Of Love and Treason
by Artistry201
Summary: The Team is pulled into another job, one that could mean the life of the Architect, or the lie that could plunge a CEO and his company into treasonous allegations. What choice does our Point Man really have? A/A Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

After seeing Inception three times, I couldn't help but write something on it! It was incredible :) Well, I sure hope you enjoy this story. I know the ideas in it are faaaaaaaaar from creative and amazing, but it was the best I could come up with at the moment.

I do not own Inception. It belongs solely to Christopher Nolan. I am jealous of that fact, but nonetheless, I still don't own anything. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter One

The months following the Inception job were slow and unpredictable. The team had split up and gone their separate ways for now. Cobb had stayed in Los Angeles with his family, Eames had gone to London to visit his sister and her family, and Yusuf had made himself scarce. Ariadne, with the help of Arthur, was able to get through the terrible first few days, going through a "rehab" of sorts. She had gone in so deep so fast that Arthur had been afraid she might accidentally kill herself.

"Assume that it's reality until it gives you certain doubt." His advice reverberated in her head, bouncing around in her brain. It had been almost five months since the Job, and she was slowly getting in sync with herself. Well, mostly. She still woke up every morning and tipped over the chess piece she made as her totem, checking that it was reality. Before, about two months ago she would tip it over at least five times in the morning, and all throughout the day. Just to make sure it was all real. Arthur had assured her that it was normal. Now though, she was satisfied with tipping it just once in the morning, and once before going to bed at night, unless something gave her reason to during the day, she didn't need to tip it very often.

She had decided to take the year off from school, reasoning that after everything that she had gone through, she deserved a break. She stayed in Los Angeles, California where she knew Arthur was. They kept their distance, Ariadne only calling him in times of absolute need. They had to keep a respectable distance in case someone came looking for one of them.

They had all decided that it would be best to wait six months before seeing each other and/or accepting another job. Ariadne just had to wait another month before she could see any of them, namely...a certain man with dark hair that dressed in perfect three piece suits with polished shoes. She shook her head, trying to clear the thought. Ariadne was sitting in her apartment with the TV turned on, but not really watching it. Her thoughts kept going over the last call she had made to Arthur about a month ago. She had thought for sure that someone had been following her back from the market. Ariadne had called Arthur in a panic, and he had answered just after the first ring. She had explained her predicament, and Arthur had calmly suggested different options of losing the man she thought had been following her.

Ariadne was still paranoid, even after a month of keeping close to her apartment and not making any calls except for those precious few to Arthur. It was coming up on five months and she still couldn't shake the feeling that she may never see Cobb again, since she assumed that he was retired and taking care of his children. Maybe she'd go visit him one day, after all, he was the one that had taught her about the dream world in the first place.

She was abruptly shaken out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on her door. She sat still on the couch, 'Who could be at the door?' She thought. She quietly tiptoed to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. Being paranoid had its side effects, and picking up the closest dangerous object to use as defense was one of those. She quietly made her way to the front door and hid the hand that held the knife behind her back. She really wished she had a peep hole. Maybe she'd invest in a door that had one. She opened the door slightly and peered up at a man in a perfect three piece suit, with his usual gelled hair and shiny shoes.

His eyebrows shot up in amusement and she blushed slightly, "Oh! Hi." She squeaked. She opened the door wide to let him in, stuffing the knife in the dirt of a potted plant in the entryway. Arthur stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Hello, Ariadne. I trust you've been keeping yourself safe for the past few months?" He asked, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he spotted the knife sticking out of the plant.

"Uh yes, I have, and thanks to your advice, I think things are going pretty smoothly." She smiled as she looked up at him.

"Good, I'm glad." He stepped further into her apartment and noticed that it wasn't exactly crisp and clean, but somewhat organized, nonetheless. There were architecture books and papers with endless designs drawn all over them, some tacked to the wall of her living room, others strewn across the coffee table.

"I see you've been practicing." He said as he picked up a few papers to glance over.

"I have, I don't know if that's much of a good thing, but it helps to clear my mind." She shrugged, watching him as he sat down on her couch. "So...what brings you here?" She asked. Ariadne walked over and sat down next to him, close enough that she didn't seem completely nervous, but far enough to retain a respectable distance.

He sighed and looked up at her with those perfect dark brown eyes, she was pretty sure she could get lost in them if she looked too long. He placed her sketches down on the table and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Saito contacted me yesterday with another job offer."

Ariadne frowned, "I thought we had all agreed to six months..." She trailed off.

Arthur nodded, "Apparently this is very important, something that can't wait that long. He hasn't given me the details yet, but it's something about his business associate. He's pretty sure that he's keeping something from him."

Ariadne nodded, staring down at her hands, waiting for him to continue.

Arthur turned more toward her, bringing her attention to him. She looked up at him with a question in her eyes. He tried to keep himself from staring at her rosy-red lips and the slight tint on her cheeks, her beautiful chocolate brown hair-

He caught himself before it was considered 'staring' at her and asked, "Would you like to be my architect?"

Ariadne couldn't help but smile, "Well that's an easy question to answer. Of course I will." She tried to keep herself from thinking what the words 'wife' or 'girlfriend' instead of 'architect' would have sounded like coming out of his mouth, but she steered away from those thoughts, a smile still glued to her lips.

Arthur got up from the couch, followed by Ariadne. "I'll call you as soon as I find Yusuf and Eames. Hopefully they'll be willing to participate." He stopped at the front door, glancing first at the plant and then at Ariadne, "Good choice of weapon, although..." He smiled, "Maybe I should get you a gun." He seemed to be seriously contemplating it.

Ariadne's mouth fell open and she could feel her face redden, "I wasn't-I mean, I didn't know who was at the door, and...I, well..." She couldn't help but feel stupid at her stuttering. She thought she had been discreet with hiding the fact that she had considered stabbing whoever was at the front door.

He smirked, "We'll do some training." He could see her tense up at the thought of having to defend herself against a threat, let alone having to kill someone.

Arthur stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, "You'll be fine. You're safe here. We'll keep in contact, and we won't even be in L.A. for much longer. You might want to start packing your things and call your landlord to let them know you're moving."

Ariadne nodded, staring at his face. This was the closest they had been since...she thought of the Inception job and the lobby they had sat at in the dream.

_Quick, give me a kiss._

She blinked a few times and nodded again, "I'll start getting my stuff together right away."

Arthur turned back toward the door and started to open it, "I'll call you tomorrow evening."

Before she could say anything, he was gone.

She swiftly turned around and grabbed the nearest suitcase and started packing. Anything she bought to fill her apartment (furniture, pillows, blankets, kitchen appliances) she decided to leave there. She had made a considerable amount of money after the last Job. She could pay for her schooling in Paris three times over with the money she had gotten from Saito. After packing what she thought were the essentials, she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, falling asleep to the boring voices of the news anchors.

* * *

She sat on her couch the next day, watching the TV but not really paying attention to it. It was nearly six o'clock and she hadn't heard from Arthur. Ariadne was getting antsy and she could hardly think of anything else except for what the new job would entail.

She glanced at her phone a few times, willing it to ring. Her chess piece was in her pants pocket, as usual, she could feel its familiar weight and it gave her comfort. Finally, after another hour of painful waiting, her phone rang.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Ariadne, I've recruited Eames and Yusuf. Can we all meet at your place tomorrow morning?" Arthur asked.

She let out a sigh of relief. She wouldn't have to navigate through L.A. in order to get to Arthur's apartment or find some secluded place. She could stay in the comfort of her own apartment. "Yes, of course. That's perfect. Do you have an idea of what time?" She asked.

There was a short pause, "I'm not quite sure. Eames is always vague about when he'll really show up, but expect us early."

She nodded, then realized he couldn't see that, "Okay, that's fine. I'll be here."

"All right, thanks Ariadne. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight."

She smiled, "Goodnight Arthur."

She had a hard time sleeping that night, she could only think about the men that would show up at her door in the morning. She finally fell into a shallow, fitful sleep.

Ariadne awoke to hard knocking on her door, she stumbled out of bed and ran for the entryway, glancing at the clock on her way. 'Five in the morning?' She thought incredulously. When Arthur said early, he meant _early_.

She opened the door and was greeted by three men. "Ariadne, darling! How have you been?" Eames drawled as he stepped into the apartment. She couldn't help but smile.

"Please, come in. Have a seat in the living room. Hi Yusuf, it's good to see you." She smiled as he stepped in and followed Eames.

"Hi Arthur." She said, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Arthur asked, glancing at the potted plant and seeing the knife still there.

"Oh, well, yes, but that's fine. I expected that would happen anyway." She shrugged. She ushered him inside and caught the smile forming on his lips as he glanced her up and down. She looked down and realized that she was still in her pajamas.

'Shoot.' She thought, blushing slightly.

Before she could make an excuse for being under-dressed, Arthur had already made his way into the living room and stood near a window next to the TV. Ariadne took the remaining seat, feeling self-conscious in her pajamas and feeling a flutter at the gentleman that Arthur was.

"All right, so what do we have to look forward to this time?" Eames asked, a smile on his lips.

Arthur nodded, "Saito has given me more information. There's a business associate of his that lives here in the United States, his name is Mr. Michael Harris. Saito and Harris have had a contract for about five years now, and Saito believes that Mr. Harris is dealing under the table. As most of us know, the United States is preparing for certain war with North Korea and even possibly China. If Harris is discovered, Saito will be linked to the treason crimes as well. Saito wants us to do an extraction, figure out if Harris really is dealing under the table, and if so, he will end his contract with Harris and expose him."

"So according to Saito, Harris is like a modern day Benedict Arnold." Ariadne said.

"In a sense, yes. That's just what he is." Arthur commented.

Ariadne felt relief, 'Just an extraction...not a big deal.' She could see the tension subside in Eames and Yusuf as well. They didn't want a repeat of the almost-disaster that was their last Job.

Ariadne frowned, "Wait, aren't we missing someone? Do we need an extractor?" She asked.

Arthur looked in her direction and shook his head. "Eames and I will work together to do that. We'll keep Yusuf outside the dream, and hopefully you won't have to enter in the dream as well, but there is a possibility that we'll need you with us, Ariadne."

She nodded, hoping that she would get her chance to be in the dream with them. "So where is this Mr. Harris? Where do we need to move ourselves to?" Eames asked.

"New Jersey." Arthur said.

"You mean to tell me...that I flew all the way to L.A. from Europe when I could have stopped in New Jersey to wait for all of you?" He asked, skepticism lacing his voice.

Arthur smiled, his eyes alight, "Oh yes, I guess I forgot to tell you."

"Well then. I'm staying the night here with Ariadne then. Because I'm not getting on another bloody plane or taxi until we leave for sure." Eames said, leaning back on the couch.

Ariadne rolled her eyes. "What ever you guys want to do is fine with me. Do you have an idea of when we'll leave?" She asked, looking to Arthur.

"I was planning on booking a flight to New Jersey for this morning at ten o'clock."

Eames looked up from his spot on the couch, "I have to fly already?" He asked. "Just shoot me now. Maybe I'll wake up from this nightmare." He said as he got up from the couch and stretched.

Yusuf glanced up from Eames to Arthur, "What are we going on the plane as? I can't use my real name as well as be associated with any of you."

Arthur nodded, "I'll take care of that."

Eames tisked, "No, no darling. Let _me_." He pointed to himself and smiled, "I am the master forger, after all." He twirled on his heel and went for the laptop sitting at Ariadne's desk in a small den off to the side of the living room. "I'll get this squared away in no time."

Arthur rolled his eyes and stayed standing by the television.

Ariadne glanced at Yusuf, then to Arthur. "Would either of you like some coffee?" She asked hesitantly. Yusuf and Arthur nodded, as well as hearing a quick, "Oh I would love some!" from Eames in the confines of the den.

Ariadne got up and meandered into the kitchen, stifling a yawn. She started making coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table. She rubbed her eyes and closed them for a moment, leaning back on her chair. She was startled out of her rest when she felt someone brush past her. Her eyes shot open as she watched Arthur sit down across from her.

"I just want to warn you that Eames might do something...well, something that Eames would only do." Arthur said, peering into the living room as Yusuf turned on the TV.

"Oh don't worry, I suspected that too. Whatever it is, I'll handle it." Ariadne smiled and stifled another yawn.

"I'm sorry we came over so early. I should have specified more." Arthur said with a slight upturn of his lips.

"Oh no, it's completely fine. I'm not even tired..." She tried.

"Uh huh..." Arthur gave her his amused look and glanced at the coffee. Ariadne leaned back in her chair as she was before and closed her eyes.

Arthur got up from the table when the coffee was ready, pouring some for himself and the rest of the team. He took it in to Eames and Yusuf, who drank theirs quickly.

"Hey pal, I need to go run off some fake I.D.'s, Yusuf and I will be back in a jiffy. Don't go anywhere." Eames patted Arthur's shoulder and walked out with Yusuf in tow. He sighed inwardly, glancing at Ariadne, who was fast asleep in her chair.

"That does not look comfortable." Arthur mused, debating with himself to either wake her, leave her there to get a kink in her neck, or pick her up and put her somewhere more suitable for napping. He decided that waking her was reasonable.

He kneeled down next to her and shook her shoulder lightly, "Ariadne, you should go lay down on the couch." He whispered. Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn't wake. She just shifted slightly and mumbled, "Mmmhmm..."

As much as he knew he should just wake her up, he couldn't help but feel responsible for her lack of sleep, so he slid his arms around her, one under her knees and the other around her upper back. He picked her up slowly, her head lolling up against his shoulder. He walked in to the living room and laid her down on the couch, he glanced around for a blanket but couldn't see one, and he wasn't about to venture into her bedroom to get one.

He shrugged off his jacket and covered her with it, walking back into the kitchen and sipping his coffee.

* * *

Ta da! First chapter down...Not sure how many more to go. But it'll be an exciting story! Reviews would be wonderful, no flames, please. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

All right...time for chapter two! Thank you for the reviews! I hope you have fun reading this chapter.

As before...Inception belongs to Christopher Nolan. Not me. Wah wah.

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Chapter Two

Eames and Yusuf burst through the door sometime later with the fake I.D.'s and credit cards.

Eames glanced around the kitchen, not seeing anybody and peeked into the living room to find Ariadne asleep with Arthur's coat tucked around her. He looked to his left to find Arthur asleep on the other chair in the living room.

Eames slapped Arthur across the face, just hard enough to make him jump awake. Eames laughed, "Oh good, you two are already acting like a couple." He motioned toward Ariadne with Arthur's suit jacket.

Arthur frowned, "I was just trying-"

"Yes, yes, I know. Always the gentleman. Anyway, I got everything finished, our flight leaves in about three hours. Yusuf is now Mr. Richard McNarry, I am the respectable Mr. Michael O'Connor, and you and the Mrs. will share the last name of Paulson." He smiled, handing him a credit card and two fake I.D.s.

"Me and the...Mrs.?" Arthur asked skeptically.

"Yes, you are Mr. Matthew Paulson, and she-" He pointed to the still sleeping Ariadne, "is Mrs. Allie Paulson."

Arthur's mouth opened to protest, but there wasn't much that he could do about it now, he knew Eames had some kind of joke up his sleeve. "Thank you, Eames, for being so kind as to make our I.D.s for us." He patted him on the shoulder with a tight smile and hard eyes. He wanted to punch that grin off his face.

"You know you two are going to have to act all lovey-dovey, right? You're on your honeymoon, after all." There was a twinkle in Eames' eyes.

Arthur sighed, "Our honeymoon? To New Jersey?" If he had to choose a destination for a honeymoon, it would not be New Jersey.

Eames couldn't help but laugh. "Now, go wake up the little wifey so she can get ready and we can get on the road."

Arthur sighed and walked over to Ariadne and knelt down next to her, "Ariadne, we need to get going soon." He said, slightly shaking her shoulder. This time, her eyes opened and she stared at him in a daze.

"We need to leave?" She asked through her sleepiness.

"Yes, you should go get ready and then we'll go."

She nodded and started to get up from the couch, she noticed the change in scenery. She was no longer at the kitchen table and she had Arthur's jacket draped over her. She blushed with the realization that he must have carried her over to the couch, and then gave her his jacket to sleep with. She couldn't help but notice how good his jacket smelled and that she could have laid there with it all day, but instead she got up and handed it to him and smiled. "Thanks." She said quietly and headed for her bedroom.

"Oh, did Eames get everything worked out?" She asked, turning toward him.

"Yes, he did...you and I are newlyweds." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

She nodded as if this was normal. Really. She should have expected this. "How should I dress then?" She asked, motioning toward him.

Arthur glanced down at what he was wearing and thought for a moment. Ariadne thought he looked perfect in business attire. Was she supposed to mirror him? What kind of couple were they supposed to be? Two business associates that dated in secrecy? She was completely perplexed.

He smiled softly, "Just wear what ever is comfortable. We'll just say that I had to meet you at the airport after a quick business meeting to wrap some things up before our honeymoon."

She nodded and couldn't help but feel completely ridiculous. She was playing out one of her deepest fantasies: Being Arthur's wife. This was going to do some major damage to her emotional spectrum if she let herself believe that the feelings he projected toward her during their time on the flight were real. She told herself to get a grip, turning and walking into her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. She let out a shaky breath as she started putting together an outfit. She started the shower and hopped in, taking a quick one and then getting dressed and blow drying her hair. She put on a bit of make-up and picked out her favorite scarf, then zipped up her suitcase and pulled it out of her room.

Eames and Yusuf were sitting in her living room, watching T.V. She glanced around, "Where's Arthur?" She asked, getting Eames' attention.

"Ah! The Sleeping Beauty awakes! He ran out for a quick errand. He left a little while ago, so he should be back at any moment." Eames smiled and checked his watch. It was 8:15 a.m. They had to leave in a half an hour.

Just then, Ariadne could hear her front door open. She walked in to the kitchen to see Arthur walk in, grabbing the knife out of the potted plant and walked into the kitchen with the shadow of a smile on his face. He rinsed the knife off in the sink and put it back in its drawer. She smiled sheepishly, "I wouldn't have stabbed you, I hope you know that."

He gave her another amused look, "I would hope not."

He reached inside his pocket and took out a silver ring and slipped it on his left ring finger. Ariadne frowned for a second. "Where did you get that?" She asked.

"I just got it while I was out." He said as he reached into his other pocket and grabbed something square. At first she thought it was his loaded dice, but as his hand came out of his pocket, she couldn't help but be curious at the little velvet box.

He opened it and took out a silver band with one perfectly cut diamond in the middle along with three other diamonds imbedded in the ring going outward on either side of the middle diamond.

He held it up and examined it for a second, "It's quite beautiful, I hope you're all right with it." He held it out to her, but she just stared at it.

"That's mine?" She asked finally, still not reaching out to take it. "Please tell me it's not real." She said.

Arthur looked perplexed at her reaction, he reached out and grabbed her hand, "It is real, and it is yours." He couldn't help but smile as he slid the ring onto her left ring finger.

She gaped at it, "This must have cost you a fortune. It didn't need to be that expensive." She said, looking up at him with a blush on her cheeks.

"You're talking to a man with more money than he could spend in an entire lifetime." Arthur said, he knew he shouldn't be feeling this open to Ariadne, he was letting her get the best of him.

She laughed, fingering the new ring. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful her laugh was. He mentally slapped himself. "Are you all packed and ready to go? We need to leave in ten minutes."

She nodded, still staring at her ring-clad finger.

* * *

It felt completely surreal. Ariadne had just stepped out of the cab and on to the sidewalk of the airport. She grabbed her suitcase after paying the cab driver and made her way into the airport to meet Arthur. She felt butterflies in her stomach when she realized that Arthur might act differently with them being supposedly husband and wife. She stood at the ticket area waiting.

"Can I help you, miss?" Ariadne turned around and saw a man in his early forties with a name tag, he worked at the airport.

"Oh no, thank you. I'm just waiting for my husband." She smiled.

The man nodded with a grin, "Going for a trip?" He asked politely.

"Yes! We're going on our honeymoon, actually." She said, grinning. Oh how she wished it was real.

The man laughed, "Well, have a fabulous time." He winked and kept walking, asking another person if he could help them with anything.

She felt her heart flutter after the man walked away. She was paranoid that someone would recognize her and yell for security. She turned to look around her and finally found a familiar face, he was only a few paces from her.

"Hey Matt." Ariadne smiled.

Arthur smirked and strode right up to her, "Hello, sweetheart." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.

Ariadne felt like her knees were going to buckle. "I'm sorry, my meeting took a little longer than what I had expected. I hope you weren't waiting too long." He looked over at her, noticing how tense she seemed. "Are you all right Ar-Allie?" He asked, concern filled his voice.

Ariadne snapped out of it, "Of course. Sorry, I was just thinking." She followed behind him as they got their tickets, tagged their bags, and headed through Customs. They got through security, Ariadne holding her breath as they checked their I.D.s.

She finally let her breath out when they got away from all the security. Arthur grabbed Ariadne's right hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "We're almost through." He whispered, giving her hand a squeeze. She couldn't help but feel as though what he was doing was real. Either he was a fantastic actor, or he was acting on emotions alone. That being if he really did like her the way she liked him.

Her mind flashed back to the kiss they had shared in the lobby during the Inception heist.

_Quick, give me a kiss._

She knew as well as he did that the projections kept staring. She had voiced this and a ghost of a smile had appeared on his face.

_Well, it was worth a shot._

She stared at him now, letting him pull her down the different open halls of the airport until they reached their gate, C2. She knew he had to feel something for her. She just wasn't sure how strong it was yet.

Arthur found two open seats for them, sitting down with Ariadne to his left. He was still holding her hand, and she was acutely aware of that. She glanced down at his hand, their fingers laced. She lifted their hands, putting them in her lap and tracing his fingers with her free hand. She spent a little more time on his finger with the wedding ring, rotating it around his finger over and over again. She glanced at him and saw that his eyes were closed.

He realized she had stopped and peered through half-open eyes at her. He smiled when their eyes met. A woman across from them looked as though she was about to cry at their sweet exchanges. Taking advantage of the moment, Arthur leaned in and kissed Ariadne, this one definitely longer than the one they shared just a half an hour earlier, and a million times longer than the one they shared in the dream world. Although he knew they weren't really married, or even dating, for that matter, he couldn't get past the fact that she was absolutely perfect. And especially when he knew that what he was doing only made it harder for him to stay away from her. He was realizing his true feelings for her, and he was afraid of turning out like Cobb and Mal had. He couldn't let that happen.

He pulled away from her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Ariadne rested her head on his shoulder, snuggling close to him. She turned her head to look behind her and spotted Eames sitting two rows of seats behind her. He made a 'kissing face' and smiled broadly. Ariadne blushed deeply and hid her face in Arthur's shoulder, smelling his cologne.

They finally got onto their plane, shuffling in between seats and finally sitting down next to each other in the regular class seating, watching as Eames took a seat in the first class.

"I should have known." Arthur shook his head.

Ariadne sat watching the scenery as they taxied across the tarmac, getting ready for take off. She took a deep breath, not realizing that she was clutching the armrests with all her might. She felt Arthur loosen her fingers and held her hand in his.

"Sweetheart, we're going to be fine." He looked at her with a slight upturn of his lips and a caring look in his eyes.

Ariadne nodded and exhaled slowly, "I know, I just always get nervous during the take off and landing." She smiled and focused on his face as they took off.

When they were finally in the air, Ariadne breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against Arthur. Before she knew it, she had fallen into a light sleep.

Arthur knew he was in trouble when he couldn't address her unless he called her 'sweetheart'. Every time he wanted to say something to her he couldn't help but almost utter her real name. It was after he had almost called her by her own name earlier in the airport when he first saw her that he knew he'd have to say 'sweetheart' or 'honey' rather than try saying Allie. It was dangerously close to Ariadne, in his opinion. Or at least, they both started with an A.

He felt her lean up against him and watched her gentle breathing as she fell asleep. He was still holding her hand, and a large part of him didn't want to ever let go, although he knew that this was against his better judgement, he held her hand anyway.

He didn't know how long he had been staring at Ariadne for when he saw someone walk past him and something dropped into his lap. He looked down and found a folded piece of paper, he let go of Ariadne's hand (rather reluctantly) and opened it.

_Remember: when we get off the plane, you're still a married couple until we meet up later and find an apartment and a warehouse._

Arthur looked up as Eames passed him again from going to the bathroom. Eames glanced back and saw the scowl that presented itself on Arthur's face.

'You know you like it.' Eames mouthed as he turned to go into his first class seating area.

After putting Eames out of his mind, he leaned back in his chair, finding Ariadne's hand again and closed his eyes to try to get some sleep.

Ariadne felt something, or more like someone, brush her hair out of her face and whisper something. She still felt completely groggy and didn't want to wake up yet.

Arthur pressed his lips to her forehead, "Honey...it's time to wake up. The plane has landed." He whispered again, a tad bit louder than the first time.

Ariadne's eyes opened this time, looking around wildly. She finally looked to see Arthur next to her, his hand reached up to cup the side of her face, running his thumb over her cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment to capture exactly how that felt.

_Do you know what it's like to be a lover?_

She could hear Mal mocking her in the depths of her mind. Her breath hitched and she opened her eyes again, seeing Arthur looking concerned.

"Are you all right?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, I'm fine." She glanced around and saw that people were getting up and moving off the plane. "We should probably get up and get going." She said sheepishly.

He nodded and stood when she did, he walked with her off the plane and they waited for their luggage. Once they picked up their bags, they hailed a taxi and headed for a hotel.

They checked in and took their bags upstairs to their shared room. Ariadne stepped in to the room and realized with a shock that if things didn't work out, they would be sleeping here for the night. One bed. Two people. Her heart sped up at the thought and she squeezed her eyes shut. She took a deep breath and put her fingers to her temple, rubbing it for a moment.

"Ariadne?" Arthur asked.

She spun around, facing him. "Huh?" She asked.

"Every time I've asked if you're all right, you've fended off my question. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, walking closer to her.

She looked up at him with butterflies in her stomach, "I guess I'm just feeling stressed out. Wait. Are we supposed to use...you know, our own names?" She whispered when she came to the last part of her sentence.

Arthur chuckled, "Yes, it's fine now. It's just in public places that we need to use our aliases."

She nodded, "Right. Of course."

Arthur grabbed her shoulders and lead her to the bed, forcing her to sit down, "Now, what's really bothering you?" He asked quietly.

She watched as he sat down next to her and debated whether or not to tell him the truth. If she told him her true feelings, he would either reject her, or he would reciprocate them, but that would further distract them from their job. She felt it was safest to come up with something else.

"I guess I'm just not feeling very well. All the stress of this is catching up with me." She said, grimacing slightly at the headache that was forming.

Arthur nodded, "All right, why don't you get some sleep, and I'll go make some phone calls. Is that okay with you?" He asked.

She nodded, "Of course."

Arthur went out onto the balcony, checking the adjacent ones to make sure no one else was outside to hear him speaking with Eames. He closed the door quietly as Ariadne fell asleep.

"Hello?" The British man drawled.

"Hello Eames."

"Ah! How are the newlyweds, then?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Just fine, thank you. Have you located somewhere to live?" He asked.

"I've found an apartment complex with three different living spaces available. You know what that means, don't you?" Eames said with a smile in his voice.

Arthur rolled his eyes, "No, Eames. I never want to know what things mean when it comes to you."

Eames chuckled, "You and the lovely Ariadne will have to stay as a married couple. Although, there is a guest room in one of the apartments. So it's not like you have to sleep in the same bed, unless...you want to."

Arthur took a deep breath to calm himself. "Eames, you're lucky you're not here in person. If that's all you could find, then that's fine. Get me the number of the landlord and I'll call them. Have you heard from Yusuf?" He asked.

"I've talked to Yusuf and he said he's found a fairly suitable workspace that isn't too far from where we're living. Maybe a ten minute drive, tops."

Arthur nodded, "All right, that's fine. What's the number for the landlord?"

Eames gave Arthur the number and then hung up. He loved making Arthur uncomfortable.

Arthur stared down at his phone, a frown etched across his face. "Why do I put with him?" He asked himself and dialed the number for the landlord.

The moment Ariadne's head hit the pillow, she was out. Arthur opened the sliding door without effort, making sure to keep it quiet so he didn't wake Ariadne. He had gotten everything taken care of with the living arrangements, and they had to wait until tomorrow to move in. He stood, looking around. There was a small couch he could take a nap on, or he could just take the floor. He eyed the couch with distaste. It was much too small for him, he'd probably get a kink in his neck, and he wasn't about to join Ariadne on the bed, he'd probably freak her out the moment she woke up. So, naturally, the floor was the only other option.

He stole a pillow from the bed that Ariadne wasn't using and laid on the floor on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He glanced up at Ariadne, seeing her left hand draped over the bed. She was still wearing the wedding ring. He felt a smile creep up on his lips when he remembered her astonished gaze at him when he had bought it for her. He shook his head, trying to clear the memory, he really needed to get some sleep. He left his phone on a high enough ringtone so that he would hear it as soon as it went off. Arthur's eyelids seemed incredibly weighted, and he finally fell into a light slumber.

* * *

And Chapter Two - Done! I hope you enjoyed reading :) reviews would be lovely! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! Thanks for all the reviews. They are greatly appreciated, I love you all! :D Here's the next chapter. And just a warning-it's **totally** a filler, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have some cute-ness. Hope you like it!

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**Chapter Three**

Ariadne opened her eyes to find the room darkened compared to earlier when they had arrived in New Jersey. She took out her totem and flicked her finger at it, making it topple over. She was in reality. She rubbed her eyes as she swung her feet over the side of the bed. She shifted all of her weight off, landing on the floor. Well, what she thought was supposed to be the floor.

"Oof!" Arthur let out a low grunt as all the air whooshed out of his lungs and he sat up sharply, only to have something, or someone fall on top of him.

"Arthur?" Ariadne said in bewilderment.

"Hello." He said, trying to take a deep breath, but that was proving difficult with her lying on top of him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize-I had no idea that you were...why were you on the floor?" She asked, getting off of him and offering a hand to him.

Arthur took her hand gratefully, getting up off the floor. "I was taking a nap." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"On the floor?" She asked.

"Yes." He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that must have been uncomfortable. You didn't want the...couch?" She looked at it with a cringe. If she had to choose, she probably wouldn't have chosen that to sleep on either.

"Never mind. Don't answer that." She said, turning for her suitcase. "Do you know when we'll be heading to our apartments?" She asked, trying for a change in subject.

She heard him sigh and looked toward him with a frown.

"Yeah, we'll be moving in tomorrow, but there's only three different living spaces available, so we'll still need to stage ourselves as 'married'." He commented.

Ariadne felt like her stomach was twisting into knots. "Okay, that's fine." Her words betrayed what she was really feeling.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and picked out her toothbrush and pajamas to change in to. Even after her nap, she still wanted to sleep. She brushed her teeth and changed, walking back into the room to find Arthur sitting on the couch with his computer in his lap, probably just doing more research.

Ariadne clambered onto the bed, looking down at her hands, noticing the wedding ring on her left hand. She closed her eyes and wished this could all just be easier.

"You know, if you don't want to sleep on the floor, you could always sleep on the bed. We can take turns, or I don't mind if we share." She blurt out.

He glanced up from his computer, the light illuminating his face. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep for awhile, and I'm not about to put you on the floor so I can sleep in a bed." He said, that almost-smile appearing on his face.

"Well, if you get tired, feel free to lay down." She patted the bed next to her as she sunk under the covers.

"I'll keep that in mind." Arthur replied, not even looking up from his computer.

She fell asleep again after only a few minutes of lying there.

Arthur glanced at the clock on his computer, it read: 3:30 a.m. He knew he should rest, but he couldn't bring himself to invade the space that was next to Ariadne on the bed. He closed his laptop and leaned back against the couch, willing himself to fall asleep.

Arthur woke with an incredibly sore neck. He rubbed it and looked around. Ariadne was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, panic shot through him, but then he glanced at the door leading to the shower and realized that the light was on, and the water was running. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:30 a.m. He had gotten three hours of sleep. "Good enough." He sighed as he got up and stretched. They were moving into their apartment today, and checking out the warehouse. He rifled through his suitcase and found another suit to wear, and took off his tie, jacket, and vest, placing them neatly over a chair.

Ariadne stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in her clothes for the day with still-wet hair. She pulled out a hairdryer and went to work on it. Arthur slid into the bathroom and started the shower, feeling the warm water ease his tense muscles. After he was finished, he stepped out and started to get dressed. He had towel-dried his hair, not having put any gel in it yet and stepped out of the bathroom in his dress pants, his shirt in his hands.

Ariadne turned, finally done with her hair and had to do a double-take at Arthur. She stared for a moment, then realized what she was doing and turned back. His hair was messy, and his shirt was off.

His shirt was _off_.

She knew Arthur was handsome, anyone could see that. But he wasn't one to show off, like Eames. She closed her eyes, trying to picture him from the quick glimpse she had just stolen of him. His hair had been a mess, but it was a perfect mess. And he was in perfectly great shape. He seemed toned and his muscles were-

'Get a grip!' She screamed at herself in her head. She willed herself to stare at the wall, trying her best not to give in to turning around. It was harder than it seemed.

She finally turned around, but to her slight dismay, found the Arthur she was used to. He was clad in a three piece suit, his hair slicked back, and a focused expression on his face as he picked up his things and neatly put them back in his suitcase.

At first she felt dismayed, but then she seemed to relax. This was familiar territory. Things would be okay. No need to worry. Right?

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, looking over at her.

She met his eyes and nodded. All of her things were already packed, and they were heading off to their new apartment.

They arrived at their apartment and waited for the landlady to make it up the stairs and unlock their door.

Arthur stepped in a surveyed the apartment. "Not bad..." He mused, looking into the nice open kitchen and glancing around the place.

The landlady smiled, "You know, this is such a great day. All three of my empty apartments have been taken in only one week! A bunch of people called the same day for apartments." She seemed really excited.

Arthur tried to hide a grimace, they should have been more careful about that. That information would stick out like a sore thumb to those that could really be looking for them. "Well, you have fabulous luck." Arthur smiled and turned, spotting a door and opening it.

He walked into the master bedroom, Ariadne trailing behind him. Her eyes widened in surprise, "Wow, this is nice." She said.

The landlady nodded and smiled. Arthur turned to Ariadne, "Yes, it definitely is. This will be-" he cut himself off, realizing they weren't alone. He had been about to say, 'This will be your room.' He had forgotten they were still married. "Wonderful." He finished with a tight smile.

The landlady grinned even wider, getting a different idea of what his expression meant.

"Won't it, dear?" He said, leaning toward Ariadne.

She kissed his cheek and hugged him, "It's perfect. Thank you, sweetheart."

The landlady gave them the rules and concerns about the apartment and left for them to get a feel for the place.

"We need to go shopping." Ariadne said, looking around at the bare rooms. She had so many ideas of what it could look like, it was overwhelming.

She turned to Arthur, "So, what was it that you were really going to say?" She asked, peering up at him from under her lashes.

"I was about to say, 'This will be your room.' But I realized we weren't alone." He gave a rue smile.

Ariadne's smile faltered, "Where's the guest room?" She asked timidly.

"It's over this way." He lead her just down the hall and opened the door to a slightly smaller room that was not connected to a bathroom. She nodded her head and glanced at him.

"And you're okay with staying in here? I can have this room if you want-" She started, but he cut her off.

"Oh no, this is just fine. Now...do you need me to go shopping with you? Or would you like to do that on your own?" He asked politely.

Ariadne mulled it over for a moment before finally coming to a conclusion. "Well, I don't exactly have a car..."

"Ah, yes. I almost forgot. We'll get you, and myself, a car, then you, or we, can go shopping." Arthur said. "I'll call a cab."

Ariadne stood, mouth slightly open. This was a lot to take in. It started to dawn on her that they really would be living here for awhile.

They had finally made their way to a car dealership, where Arthur chose a sleek black Volvo and Ariadne kept to the more simple Honda Civic.

"So, do you need help with shopping?" He asked.

She looked at him for a moment and narrowed her eyes while she thought for a moment. "No, it's fine. Why don't you go see what Eames and Yusuf are up to?" She said with a small smile, heading toward her new car.

"All right, let me know when you get back, I may be gone longer than you." He said, opening her door for her.

She gave a small nod, trying not to notice how much of a gentleman he was as she got into her car. "Thanks, Arthur. I'll see you tonight."

"Goodbye, Ariadne, be safe." He closed her door and headed to his own car.

She started it up and made her way to the closest Sears store, the GPS in her car helping her find her way through the messy layout that New Jersey was.

By the time she was done, she had spent well over seven thousand dollars. But what was that to her? She had gained a large sum of money from the Inception job, and not to mention, adding that up with her teammates' portions. She wouldn't be paying for all of this, after all. Just some of it.

She headed back to the apartment with a hired moving truck behind her. She smiled at the ridiculousness of it all. Really, who did this, ever? Bought all new things in one day? Only they would.

They arrived at the apartment with no Arthur in sight. She decided to call him after the apartment was ready, a little surprise was in order. The men in the truck moved everything into her apartment quickly and easily. She unpacked boxes and set up things, besides the big screen TV. She would leave that to Arthur, she never knew how to set up those things. She made both beds and even tacked up some shelves, albeit one was crooked. She would fix it later. She put all the kitchen appliances away and tallied up the total on her receipt.

She picked up her cell phone and dialed Arthur's number.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hi. It's-" She paused as she heard Eames in the background.

"Is the wife finished shopping already? Goodness gracious, she's fast."

She couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Ariadne." She finished. "And as Eames said, I am finished."

"All right, sounds great. Do you need help with anything?" He asked politely.

"No, I don't think so. Well, the TV needs looking at, but other than that, everything is all set up." She wished she could see his face, maybe he was impressed with her. She wished he was, anyway...

"I'll be home in about twenty minutes tops. Are you hungry?" He asked.

She hadn't even thought about eating anything. They hadn't had anything to eat all day, her stomach growled in protest. "Oh, yes. I am." She said.

"How does Chinese sound? Unless you wanted to make something." He said.

"Oh. No, Chinese sounds great. I bought all the appliances, but I hadn't even thought about groceries." Her face turned a light shade of pink, thankfully he wasn't there to see it.

"That's perfectly fine. You had a lot to do today. I'll pick up some Chinese on my way back."

"That sounds great, thanks Arthur. Tell everyone hi for me." She said.

She heard a collective "hello!" back as Arthur told them. They said their goodbyes and hung up.

She glanced at the TV and narrowed her eyes at it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to try and set it up.

* * *

Arthur arrived back at the apartment with the Chinese takeout, he opened the door, and for a moment, thought he was in the wrong apartment, but then remembered that Ariadne had literally gotten everything they needed.

"Wow. I have to say, I am impressed." He surveyed the room, looking for Ariadne. He finally spotted her wedged behind the flat screen TV in a corner of the room.

"Um...could I get some help?" She asked, smiling sheepishly.

After they had set up the TV and were eating their dinner while watching the News, Arthur told her about the warehouse.

"There's a perfect sized room for you to set up all your designs in and we got a rather large drawing table for you, along with all the pencils you would ever need." He stated.

Ariadne smiled, "Oh good, I'm glad you boys thought of me." She took a bite of her chicken and glanced up at the TV.

"...and the United States has finally declared war against North Korea. The U.S. is the third country to have joined the efforts against North Korea..." The announcer on the News went on about the war.

Ariadne sighed, feeling very small compared to the rest of the world. They had fallen into a comfortable silence, and she looked up at him, "Thanks for the Chinese. I'm full, so I think I'll put this away and take a shower and head to bed."

"All right. Good night." He said, smiling nicely.

"Good night." She smiled back. 'Living with him will be a piece of cake.' She thought to herself.

* * *

All right...so there's that chapter! I hope you aren't too disappointed in it, since there's nothing too intense or crazy about it, but I promise, that's coming! Hahaha leave a review, please and thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you all for the reviews! I really appreciate it! :D You're awesome. I hope you like this chapter!

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**Chapter Four**

The next morning, Arthur and Ariadne headed to the warehouse to check things out. Eames had mentioned that they would need to get together to do a "swapping of information" meeting.

They all sat in their chairs, listening to Arthur, "From the research that I've gathered so far, this man knows how to fend off extractors. He's had training. This will make it difficult, either just as difficult as the Fisher case, or even worse. We need to think of detail when it comes to this extraction. We're looking for specificity." He said, pointing to a whiteboard they had set up.

"And there's that word again..." Eames said quietly, smirking a little.

"Is it even a real word?" Yusuf whispered back, "English is my third language..."

Arthur paid them no attention. "I'm going to look up as much as I can about Mr. Harris with my laptop here at the warehouse, but when that fails, I might need to get my hands a little dirty. I'll be in and out of the warehouse at least tomorrow and the next day. Today, I'll stick here. What are everyone else's plans?" He asked.

Ariadne thought for a moment, "I'll just be doing sketches either here or back at home."

"Ah, isn't that sweet. You guys call it 'home', eh?" Eames chuckled.

Ariadne went on, "So I'm fine with what I already have. There's nothing else I need for right now." Arthur nodded and turned to Eames.

"I am going to head to their headquarters to see if I can sniff out any close relationships to this Mr. Harris fellow." He said.

Arthur then swiveled around on his heel to Yusuf, "I'll just be testing some chemical compounds and making sure the machine is still working correctly, I'll make any adjustments if needed." He stated, pointing to the silver case on the floor.

Arthur nodded, looking around at the group, it felt weird not having Cobb around. "All right, let's get to work."

The first week and a half of working went rather well, they all came to and from the warehouse at odd times. Ariadne didn't feel awkward or weird at all living with Arthur in the same apartment, in fact, she didn't see him all that much. Sometimes she found that he would either stay at the warehouse all night to do research, and she'd find him there in the morning, asleep in his chair.

That morning as she walked to the warehouse, was one of those.

"You know, it's probably better if you don't fall asleep like that in a chair all the time. You'll develop some weird back or neck problem." She stated, smiling.

Arthur rubbed his eyes and looked around the warehouse. "Is anyone else here yet?" He asked.

"Nope. Just me and you so far." She mused, wandering over to her area to start on more of her architectural projects and designs.

She took a break later in the day, seeing Eames come and go, and watching Yusuf work on the different chemicals. Ariadne sat, thinking about their time here in New Jersey thus far. It had been almost two weeks, and they were all making great progress. From Arthur's reports on Mr. Harris, she was able to discern what would seem comfortable enough in reality, and played off of that for their basic layout in the dreamworld. It was in this moment that their situation hit her like a ton of bricks. They had gone to such lengths to make it look so real, that they really were living here, that she and Arthur were kind-of married. She glanced down at her hand and realized she had forgotten to wear the ring today.

"Oh well..." She sighed. She glanced in Arthur's direction, seeing him writing his notes and looking things up on his computer, sometimes flitting through a few books and newspapers. She noticed that he was wearing the ring today. She suddenly felt queasy.

Ariadne stood from her spot across the room and made her way over to Arthur, "Hey, sorry to interrupt your search, but I'm going to head back. Is that okay?" She asked, rubbing her right temple.

"Yes, that's fine. Are you all right?" He asked cautiously.

"Oh, I'm okay. I just feel a bit of a headache coming on." She said, turning away from him. Truthfully, she really wasn't feeling all that well, but she wasn't about to make him worry. It was probably just a common cold sneaking up on her in the very early fall season.

Arthur's face set into a frown, "Did you walk here today?" He asked.

"Yes, I did." She said.

"I'll drive you back." He stated, getting up from his chair and shrugging into his suit jacket.

She nodded, grateful for his thoughtfulness. Ariadne was dead tired, and it was about three in the afternoon. "I'll work harder tomorrow." She said with a sigh.

"Don't push yourself, we don't want you getting sick." He explained.

"I won't. It's fine." She said as they exited the warehouse. They crossed the street after looking for cars and he opened Ariadne's door for her.

They arrived back at the apartment and Arthur looked at her with a serious glint in his eyes, "Please get some rest. I mean it, I don't want you to get sick." He said, a hint of concern showing.

She nodded and lifted up a corner of her mouth in a light smile and got out of the car. She shut the door and climbed the stairs to their apartment. The moment she got inside, she felt her headache start to throb. She fished around in the cupboard for some advil, finally finding some and popping a few into her mouth. She knew that she hadn't gotten enough sleep lately, that it was seriously messing with her natural body clock, and she knew that when that happened, she was prone to migraines. This one, was particularly nasty.

Ariadne couldn't even make it to the couch, she slumped down on the carpet by the counter and fell asleep.

* * *

After working another couple of hours at the warehouse after dropping Ariadne off, Arthur felt like he needed a break. And some food. He drove back to their apartment, parked, and went up to their door. He unlocked the front door and strode in, seeing everything exactly the same as how they had left it this morning. It didn't really feel right.

"Ariadne?" He called softly into the apartment. No answer. He frowned and glanced around the place. He peered into the kitchen and saw one of the cupboards still open with a bottle of advil balanced precariously on the edge of one of the shelves. His frown turned to surprise and panic when he noticed a pair of legs lying on the floor, the rest of her body hidden behind the counter.

"Ariadne!" He said, rushing to her. He knelt down next to her and checked her pulse. Good. She was still breathing. Good. He frowned again. What was wrong with her?

He shook her forearm slightly, getting a mumbled response. "Ariadne?" He asked, feeling her forehead. It was hot. "Hey, you need to get up. You collapsed on the floor." He shook her arm again with a little more force, bringing her out of her sleep.

She looked at him with bleary eyes. "What?" She asked hazily.

"You need to get into a bed. You've got a fever." He said slowly.

"Migraine..." She muttered, one of her hands reaching tenderly up to her head.

"When I told you that you should sleep, I meant in a bed." He said sarcastically. He put an arm around her shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position.

"What?" She asked, looking around her. "Oh. I'm sorry...I wasn't...paying attention." She said, still very tired.

Arthur grimaced, her head must have really been hurting her if she couldn't focus on someone that was right in front of her. "I'm going to take you to your bed." He said, putting an arm under her knees and another around her back. He lifted her off the floor, making sure not to hit her against the counter. She slumped against him, closing her eyes.

Ariadne awoke in her bed. She looked around and noticed her door and window open, letting in the cool breeze. She sighed and let the chill air wash over her, she felt so hot. She sniffed and coughed a little before getting out of the bed and heading down the hall and into the living room.

"Arthur?" She murmured, looking into the living room. She found him asleep on the couch. She laughed inwardly. She sat down next to him on the couch, shaking his shoulder gently. "Arthur, as much as I would love to return the favor, I don't think I can lift you." She said with a smile.

"Hmm?" Was all he said, his eyebrows raising slightly, but not opening his eyes.

"You should get into your bed." She said, a bit louder.

This time his eyes opened. "Ah, you're awake. What happened?" He asked, obviously curious. "I came home to find you on the floor. I thought you had passed out or something."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just so exhausted. I don't really know what came over me." She shrugged and rubbed her nose.

"Well, maybe you should take the day off tomorrow and get some rest." He said, looking at her pointedly.

Her eyes narrowed, "I don't know...I'll see how I'm feeling in the morning." She stood up from the couch and offered him her hand. "You should really sleep in a bed."

He smirked and grabbed her hand and pulled himself from off the couch. "Good night, Ariadne. Sleep well." He squeezed her hand and headed to his room.

The next morning she awoke to a receding migraine, which was nice. They usually didn't go away this quickly, but this one was. She came out from her bedroom and noticed the note on the table from Arthur.

_Ariadne-_

_I went to work, if you're feeling up to it, maybe you could stop by the store and get some groceries today. You don't need to come to work, you have the day off if you can stay away._

_ Arthur_

"If I can stay away...what's that supposed to mean?" She knew exactly what it meant. If she was too excited about the designs, she'd head over to the warehouse whether Arthur wanted her to or not. She thought for a moment and decided that it would be fine if she did some shopping before stopping by at the warehouse. They were running low on her favorite cereal, and they needed more bread and some frozen dinners. With a sigh, she headed back to her room and got ready for the day, then stuffed some advil into her purse and grabbed her keys, along with her ring, slipping it back onto her left ring finger. It felt so much better to have it on.

Arthur sat in the warehouse trying to digest all the information he had acquired about their target. This would be a bit more difficult than he previously thought it would be. There were just a few bits and pieces of information that he needed to find before they performed any kind of extraction. He had to know who had trained him in building up defenses in his mind, and the name was being very elusive to him. He stood from his spot in his designated area in the warehouse and stretched. He looked around, seeing only Yusuf working on more chemical compounds.

"How's that coming?" He asked.

"Oh it's coming along just fine. It's just very time consuming, that's all." Yusuf paused, "How is Ariadne?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. I let her take the day off. She wasn't feeling well yesterday." He said, putting his hands on his hips and looking around at all the different piles of copious notes. "I'm going to head out. There's some information that I can't find while I'm here. I'll be back later." He said.

Yusuf nodded, "I'll probably be gone by the time you get back." He said as Arthur walked out the door.

Ariadne pulled up to the apartment and made two trips from her car to the apartment in order to get all the groceries inside. Her headache was coming back, but not with the same force as earlier. She set down all the groceries on the counter and put the milk and butter in the fridge. She sat down and glanced at her phone. It was almost four in the afternoon. She had slept away most of the day, and grocery shopping had taken her about two hours. She thought about it for a moment, and then finally decided to take the chance and go to the warehouse. She glanced out the window and noticed the perfect blue sky and beautiful fluffy clouds. The walk to the warehouse was only fifteen minutes at the most, and Arthur would surely be there since his car wasn't at the apartment. She grabbed a light jacket and headed out the door, but not before leaving a note for Arthur just in case he wasn't at the warehouse after all.

_Arthur-_

_ Thanks for your note earlier. I couldn't stay away, as you predicted. If you're reading this, and I'm not here, then I'm at the warehouse. Hopefully I got everything from the store that you may have wanted and/or needed._

_ Ariadne_

She arrived at the warehouse only to find Yusuf there. "Oh hey, Yusuf. How are things going?" She asked.

He glanced up from his work and sighed, "It's very meticulous, but it's getting done, steadily but surely." He smiled kindly at her.

"Is Arthur not here?" She asked.

"No, he stepped out for awhile. Said he needed to do some research. He told me he'd be back though." Yusuf said while mixing together a strange concoction.

"Thanks for letting me know." Ariadne said and turned to go work on her designs.

Some time later, maybe an hour or so, Yusuf got up from his spot and trudged over to Ariadne's desk. She could tell he was tired. "I'm going to head back now. Did you want a ride?" He asked nicely.

"Oh no, it's fine." She smiled, glancing up from pasting two pieces of rolled paper together.

"If Arthur doesn't come back, it would be unwise to walk home alone in the dark." He said, wagging his finger.

She let out a light laugh, "I have my cell phone with me. I'll be just fine. I'll call Arthur if I need a ride home." She said, reassuring him.

He gave her a look of defeat, "All right, all right. Be careful." He said.

She nodded and went back to her work, listening for the door to lock on his way out.

A few hours went by and Ariadne realized it was getting dark out. "Why isn't Arthur back yet?" She asked herself. She could imagine him falling asleep at the library in an uncomfortable chair, with a librarian peering over at him, expecting him to fall over at any moment.

She laughed at the thought and then decided it was best to give him call. She fished through her purse, only to find that it wasn't there. Where was it? "Shoot." She said, looking on the floor and checking other places she had been in the warehouse since she'd arrived.

Nothing. Where was that phone? She ran through her head what she had done that day and it dawned on her that she had left her phone on the counter with the groceries.

"Oh great." She sighed, "I guess I should pack up and head out while it's not too dark out." She told herself. She grabbed her keys and purse and walked out the front door, locking it on her way out.

* * *

Arthur had stopped at the library along with a few bars to see if he could weedle any information out of a drunken businessman. The results were better than he had hoped for, although, he hadn't gotten all the information he'd needed, he'd made great progress.

Instead of driving back to the warehouse, he went right to the apartment to check on Ariadne. He walked in, feeling pretty confidant about himself, and almost excited to tell Ariadne about what he'd unearthed concerning Mr. Harris, that is, until he found her note.

He read it quickly, then dialed her number on his cell phone. He hoped she hadn't left yet. As he put his own phone against his ear, he heard her familiar ringtone and the buzzing of a phone against a hard surface. He cleared the kitchen counter of groceries until he found it. She had forgotten her phone.

"Damn." He breathed, turning on his heel and swinging the door shut behind him, not caring to lock it.

* * *

Ariadne shut the door behind her and locked it, putting her keys back in her purse. She turned around to find the street more ominous than what she had previously thought it to be. Everything seemed to look worse in the dark. She glanced around, feeling the coolness of fall seep through her thin long sleeved shirt. She shouldn't have walked. Ariadne decided that just standing there and watching her breath crystalize in the frigid air would do nothing for her and started walking.

She had to go around to the side of the warehouse to an alley that cut through a small subdivision of run-down apartments before getting to the main street that led to their nicer ones. During the day this place was just sad, during the night, it was absolutely creepy. She folded her arms, trying to keep in the body heat. She almost thought about jogging. That would both warm her up, and get her to the apartment faster. She turned the first corner around the warehouse, starting into the alley when she bumped into someone. For a split second she thought that maybe it could be Arthur, but when the smell of smoke and alcohol assaulted her nose, she knew it wasn't.

She stepped back and her eyes widened. A man with tattoos and piercings all over his body stood before her. His white skin made it even easier to tell how many tattoos were on him and what they were, the metal of the piercings gleamed in the lamp-lit alley.

A thought raced through her mind, 'One. Okay, one person. I can take him.' She thought boldly, then noticed the other men lounging around in the alley. 'Nevermind.' She thought again. She slowly backed away from the man, hugging her purse to her. The man glanced down at her left hand, which was tightening on the strap of her purse.

"Nice ring you got on there, Mrs." He said with a drawl. "Who's the lucky guy, hmm? What's his name?"

Ariadne could feel herself start to shake, and it wasn't entirely because of the cold.

"You don't know or something?" He asked, taunting her.

"Arth..." She cleared her throat, "Matt." She stated simply.

"Arth...Matt. Interesting name. Does he go by something different?" He pried.

Ariadne frowned, 'Now that is a weird question to be asking. I was expecting something more like... 'Give me all your money and I'll let you go'...' She thought to herself.

"I just...had something caught in my throat." She lied through her teeth. She was steadily backing away, but he kept advancing toward her.

"Ah, I see. Well, my buddies and I were wondering what you might have in that warehouse there that's so important." The man nodded toward the building on her right. "We saw a light on and waited for someone to come out, and lo and behold, an angel found us." He smiled, which was not a pretty sight, and stepped closer to her.

"I just have an art studio in there. I've been working on paintings all day." It was the first thing she could come up with.

"Really? You sure about that? You don't have a drop of paint on you. And I've seen others in there that are dressed...well, of a higher standard than the usual artist."

Ariadne decided it would be best to keep her mouth shut. Not answering anything kept her out of more trouble than trying to cover up a lie with another lie. She glanced around her, looking for a quick escape. The closest one would be through the way she came, but that was exactly opposite of where she lived. She'd have to go around eventually, and they could intercept her at another point. 'This part of the city was poorly structured.' She thought. She berated herself, this was not the time to be criticizing the layout of a city block. She glanced back to her right again, seeing that it was less than ten feet before the corner of the warehouse, if she could get past that corner, she could run down the small road as fast as she could and make it to State Street, attract some attention, or run into a store, get them away from her in any way possible.

When she was about to turn, she felt a hand clench on to her arm. She cried out in surprise, feeling her pulse grow stronger.

"Where are you going?" He said with a fake sweetness to his voice. "We'd love for you to stay."

She looked around her and realized that they had all slowly converged on her. She was completely surrounded. She could feel the panic seize up in her chest like a tidal wave. She bolted to her right, but found strong arms grab her and hold her against her escape. There were seven men total, way too many for her to handle. She hadn't received proper training yet. How was she supposed to get out of this one alive? At that moment, she really wished that this was a dream.

She felt them drag her as she kicked and screamed, hitting and throwing punches, scraping and scratching whatever skin she came in contact with, but the men forged on, taking her away from her escape route, to a corner of the alleyway. "Leave me alone!" She screamed. "Help!" She yelled desperately.

She thrashed against one of them, he held her arms bent behind her back. One of them kicked her legs out from under her, sending her to the ground on her back, her purse forgotten. 'What do they want?' She thought in a panic. She kicked her legs out at them, but felt someone grab each of her legs and pin them to the ground, the same happening to her arms. She squirmed and yelled as much as she could, but no one seemed to be hearing her.

"Now..." She heard someone say softly, "You are going to tell me what's going on in there." He waved absently to the warehouse. "Someone is paying me and my friends here good money to find out." He smiled again, sending shivers up her spine.

"What was that name you were going to mention earlier, hmm?" He asked in a nice tone, but she knew it was anything but.

She panted, trying to think of anything and everything that could get her out of the situation, but she could come up with nothing. She could feel her sight growing a bit fuzzy, and suddenly became aware of something warm trickling down the side of her head. She closed her eyes, willing herself to stay calm. 'What would Arthur do in a situation like this?' She asked herself. She had no idea.

"Girly, you need to answer me. Now." He said, his tone whiplashed from nice to angry in about a second.

She said nothing. Nothing was better than blabbering.

Ariadne felt a hard, calloused hand smack across her face and the intense sting that followed it made her eyes burn and start to water. She rolled her head back to look at him, "No." Was all she said.

The man leaned over her and closed a large hand around her neck, "You need to answer me, or you might not survive to see your husband again."

* * *

DON DON DON! I hope you don't hate me. Leave a review, and maybe I'll get that next chapter up sooner ;) haha I'm so mean!


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you SOO much for all the reviews. I LOVE them! Here's the next chapter!

I don't own Inception. Wah wah. I wish.

**Chapter Five**

Arthur was almost to the warehouse, he sped through red lights and down vacant streets. He was lucky that a cop hadn't spotted him by now. He made a hard left, his tires screeching. He pulled up on the street that was just one over from the warehouse. All he had to do was get out of the car and run down an alley and around a corner and he'd be there. Hopefully in all his panic, he would just find a tired Ariadne sitting in her corner of the warehouse, working on her projects.

He brought his hand around to his back and pulled out his gun. He slinked down the alley, keeping to the shadows. He could hear talking.

"What was that name you were going to mention earlier, hmm?" Someone asked.

No response.

"Girly, you need to answer me. Now."

Nothing.

He heard the distinct cry from Ariadne as his hand smacked her across the face. Rage welled up inside his chest, and he could barely contain himself. He had to act with rationality. Emotions were the things that got you killed. He took a deep breath, finally hearing a comment from Ariadne.

"No."

He exhaled and pointed the gun at the man closing his hand around her windpipe.

* * *

Ariadne was sure that she wouldn't be around much longer. She could barely breathe.

She heard a loud bang and a cry of pain from the man leaning over her. He fell to the ground, panting and grabbing his right side. Ariadne couldn't keep up with what was happening. Another man fell to the ground, but he didn't make any noise. What was going on?

She blinked a few times, hearing the shouts from the men around her. One by one, they fell to the ground, either moaning in pain, or not saying anything at all. She had a feeling they'd never wake up again.

Arthur wanted to keep the man interrogating Ariadne alive, so he could interrogate the man himself. He took easy shots of four others, leaving only two left. By that time though, they had figured out exactly where Arthur was. He made a swift punch to the first man's nose. He could feel the cartilage bend and snap under his fist, causing blood to pour. He turned on his heel and made a swift jab right under the other man's ribcage, causing him to lose his breath. Arthur brought his gun down on his head, knocking him out. Just as he turned, he could feel an arm reach around his neck and pull him into a headlock. He kicked back, knocking the man's knee out of its socket. He howled in pain and let go. Arthur took the moment to hit him across the temple with his gun, and watched the man fall to the ground with a grunt.

He stood for just a second and caught his breath, then ran to where Ariadne lay. "Ariadne?" He asked, shaking her shoulder slightly, while bringing the other hand to cup the side of her face, forcing her to make eye contact with him.

"Arthur?" She said, almost in disbelief. Silent tears slid down her face, "I'm so glad you came." It was, literally, a dream come true.

He looked her over for a moment, the dull ache of pain throbbing in his knuckles and joints quickly subsided as a fresh wave of anger came over him. He looked up to find the other man that had been interrogating her trying to crawl away.

"Wrong move." Arthur stated, absolutely no emotion other than disgust displayed on his face. He stood up from kneeling down by Ariadne and kicked the man over on to his bad side.

The man yelped in pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He yelled, holding his hands up in defeat. "Please don't kill me." He whimpered.

"Oh, I won't kill you. Yet. What were you after? Her purse? Her money? Her ring? What did you want?" He asked harshly.

"No, no. No personal belongings. Just information." The man said, wincing in pain.

"What kind of information? What could she possibly know that you would want?" Arthur interrogated him, his gun pointed directly at the man's head.

"I was hired! Hired by some guy to find out what was going on in that warehouse every day and night!" He cried out.

Some guy this was. Ariadne could hold information better than this coward could.

"What was his name?" Arthur growled.

"I don't remember!"

"Oh I know you do. Think a little harder." Arthur said, bending over and pressing the gun against the man's head.

"He never told me his name! It was for confidentiality reasons. He wouldn't tell me, even when I asked him every time I talked to him. I swear I don't know!" The man was almost crying.

"You're pathetic." Arthur kicked him in the head, sending him into the realm of unconsciousness.

He went back to Ariadne's side, kneeling down next to her and lifting her into his arms. "Let's go home." He whispered, carrying her down the alley toward his car.

* * *

_Intimidating men, surrounding her, boxing her in. They pounced on her, hitting her, smacking her face, gun shots, yells and shouts. Her screams. _His_ voice..._

Ariadne woke up, her heart pounding. She had relived the night before. She took a moment to calm down, then noticed how sore she was. Her legs and arms hurt, her face stung, and her throat was slightly swollen, but most of all, her head was pounding. She felt like someone was hitting her head with a hammer. She shifted slowly, but felt the muscles in her back twinge. She moaned in pain and just laid there. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet. Where was she? She was almost too afraid to find out.

In a flood of emotions and pain, she remembered the gist of the night before. 'Was it the night before?' She wondered. 'How long have I been out?'

She peeked a look at her surroundings and was relieved to find herself in her own room back at the apartment. So Arthur really had found her in time last night...

Night. It was still dark out. 'What time is it?' She thought, moving slightly to get a look at her clock on the nightstand. It was 3:30 in the morning.

She blinked a few times, trying to get used to the darkness, but instead, felt an overwhelming sense of being alone. Just like she had only hours ago, feeling the intensity of having to walk home alone, with the result ending her up here, in this bed, feeling like a dead weight. She started to hyperventilate, her lungs taking in as much air as they could, but her windpipe was swollen or bruised enough that it hurt her to try and take deep breaths. This only repeated the cycle of panic. She stumbled out of the bed and hit the wall. She gasped and coughed in pain and made for the hallway. If she could just make it to the kitchen and get some pain reliever, or something to help her breathe, she'd be okay.

By this point her head was throbbing even worse, she leaned against the wall in the hall and stood up slowly, sucking in air. She could feel herself shaking. Her eyes widened when she saw movement just beyond the next doorway. She tensed for a moment.

"Ariadne?" Came a voice.

Her shoulders relaxed automatically at the sound of his voice. Arthur flipped on a light and walked into the hall to see her collapse. "You shouldn't be out of bed." He said with a frown and grabbed her around the waist, helping her to her feet and steering her back the direction she had come from.

"Water..." She rasped. "Pain relief..."

Arthur nodded, "I'm not sure you'll be able to swallow a pill yet. I'll find a liquid pain reliever for you." He said as he helped her back into her bed and pulled the covers up and over her. He was about to leave the room when he heard her protest.

"No, wait." She said softly, trying not to overuse her voice. "Can you turn on...the lamp?" She said slowly, her voice hoarse.

A quizzical glance crossed his face for only a second before switching on a lamp for her. He left the room for a moment and came back with water and a liquid pain reliever. She took it gratefully and smiled.

"Thank you, Arthur. For everything." She said quietly. She looked away from him for a moment when a few tears fell.

He nodded, but still stood beside her. "Of course." She finally turned toward him again and smiled slightly, her left cheek hurt. She took a second to take in his appearance. He was wearing a light blue polo shirt with gray sweats, and his hair was coming out of its usual slicked-back appearance. She liked it. She realized she was still in the clothes she had been in the entire day.

"You should get some sleep." He said quietly, bringing her attention back to his face.

"I don't want to." She said, frowning.

"Why is that?" He asked softly, coming a bit closer to her.

"When I woke up, I remember dreaming...reliving what had just happened." She looked into his dark eyes and felt a warmth spread through her chest. "I don't want to dream that again."

"You dream still?" He asked, a little surprised.

"Only sometimes." She said.

"Well, I guess I can understand that. Anything that evokes a strong emotional response can do that every now and then." Arthur pondered it for a moment before turning back to Ariadne.

His eyebrows perked up at her expression. He could see genuine fear flitting across her face, along with anger and disbelief. 'How could anyone hurt her?' He thought. He was angry with himself for not telling her sooner not to go alone to the warehouse.

"Will you stay with me?" She asked timidly.

The question completely threw him off guard, but he hid his surprise well. "Only if you want me to." He said casually.

She nodded, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I just don't want to be alone."

"Of course. That's fine." He nodded.

She patted the other side of the bed. He made his way around it and laid down next to her. She was under the covers while he laid on top of the comforter. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable in any way.

"Thanks Arthur..." She trailed off, yawning.

"Sure." He said, his voice light. He glanced at her, she was on her side, turned toward him. He wanted so badly to wrap his arms around her, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He wasn't sure of her feelings, and he didn't want to upturn her fragile state at the moment. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

* * *

"_You need to answer me, or you might not survive the night..." She heard a dark chuckle._

"_Do you know what it's like, to be a lover?..." She heard Mal's voice echo, felt a hand pressing against her windpipe, choking her. She could feel the cold steel of the knife that Mal thrust into her chest. _

Ariadne woke up with a start, breathing heavily.

"Hey, Ariadne. You're all right. You're fine."

Ariadne jumped at the sound of someone else in the room. She turned to her right and realized that Arthur was next to her, propping himself up on his elbow, he was turned in her direction.

Her cheeks were wet with tears that she didn't know she had cried. "I can't keep dreaming like this." Her voice was a faint whisper.

Arthur could see the turmoil going on behind those brilliant brown eyes of hers. Before he could do anything, she leaned forward and crushed herself to him. He found himself holding her tightly to him, letting her cry. "I'm here. You're fine." He said quietly.

* * *

Ariadne awoke again, only this time, without the nightmare. Her face was pressed against something warm...she breathed in and smelled a familiar cologne.

Arthur.

Her face was buried in his chest, and she could feel his arms wrapped around her. She laid there for a moment, taking the sweet moment in and trying to remember every detail. No, this wasn't weird. It was perfectly normal to obsess over someone like Arthur, right?

She felt him stir from his sleep, stiffening at the sudden realization that he was so close to her. She feigned sleeping, trying not to make it too awkward...

He pulled away from her and Ariadne could feel the warmth leave. She shivered and opened her eyes.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Arthur said softly, smoothing her hair back behind her ear.

Now that the sun shone through the cracks in the blinds he could see the real damage inflicted on her. Ariadne had a bruise forming on the side of her face where the man had hit her the night before, and her throat had a bruise in the faint imperfect outline of a hand. He could feel his blood start to boil.

Ariadne noticed how the smoothness of his face tightened into a frown. "What is it?" She asked.

His eyebrows rose up in slight surprise, not realizing that he had been frowning at her. "I just..." He had never been good at expressing his emotions. He let his voice trail away, his hand came down from the side of her face to trace the bruise on her neck.

"I wish what happened last night hadn't happened to you." He said softly.

"Do I really look that bad?" She asked, noticing how his eyes roved all over her face and neck.

He let out a breathy laugh, "No. No, you don't look bad." He smiled that half-smile again before getting up off the bed. "I'm going to call a meeting with Eames and Yusuf. Just rest, you don't need to go anywhere."

Ariadne felt a tingling sensation where his hands had been on her neck, and her heart rate was a little faster than usual. She turned around to look at him walking down the hallway. She snuggled back into the covers and fell asleep.

Arthur texted Yusuf and Eames, 'Meet at the warehouse in ten.'

* * *

He showed up, glancing around, making sure no one was around before unlocking the doors and going inside. Yusuf and Eames arrived just after him.

"Really, it's 7:00 in the morning. You couldn't call for a later time to get together? I'm trying to find information on Mr. Harris's associates, which I can't do from this warehouse." He said, pointing down at the cement floor.

"Ariadne was attacked last night." Arthur said bluntly.

"Way to start a good conversation, Arthur. What the hell happened?" Eames said, his voice rising.

She stayed late at the warehouse, I thought she would have gotten a ride home with Yusuf." Arthur said, sliding a hand back over his hair.

Yusuf's eyes widened, "I thought you said you were going to come back to the warehouse!" He said.

Arthur nodded, "I did, I should have called you, but since she was sick, I didn't think she would have even gone to the warehouse."

Eames sighed, "Well great. What happened?" He asked again, his voice low and dripping with sarcasm.

"I got there in time, she has some bruising, but she'll be all right. The fact of the matter is, they know we're here." Arthur said pointedly.

"Wait, whoa, hang on. Who knows?" Yusuf asked.

"The men that got to Ariadne last night were asked to stake out the warehouse, to interrogate anyone that came out. I'm guessing Mr. Harris knows that something is going on." Arthur sat down on a chair, reliving the events of the night before. He felt a cold shiver lace up his spine. Ariadne's prone form flashed in his mind before he looked back up at the other two men standing before him.

"If there are guys staking out the warehouse, why are we here right now?" Eames asked, exasperated.

"Because we need to clear everything out and leave." Arthur stated, standing up and starting to gather his papers from his desk in the corner.

"Well where will we take all this stuff to?" Yusuf asked, looking at his makeshift lab across from Ariadne's work place.

"We'll just have to take it to our own apartments for now. When you have everything that's yours in your car, don't go straight to the apartment complex. Drive around a bit, just in case someone's watching." Arthur said, piling up Ariadne's sketches and materials and placing it all in filing boxes.

Arthur finally had everything out in his car, ready to make the trip around the city, lose some tails, and then make it back to the apartment. He hoped Ariadne was still all right. She was probably still asleep. He watched Yusuf and Eames both pull out, all of them heading in different directions. Arthur drove into the heart of the city, going in aimless circles before turning back toward the apartment complex.

* * *

Ariadne woke up an hour after falling back asleep. The light from outside peeking through the blinds. She sat up slowly, feeling the soreness creep through her skin as she stretched.

She made her way to the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. She lightly touched the bruise on the side of her face, and ran her fingers over the one on her throat. The pain was starting to come back full force. She needed more pain reliever. She went back to her room and dressed into some jeans and a shirt with a signature scarf, which also helped to hide the bruising on her neck. She brushed her hair and left it to its natural waves before turning to the kitchen and getting some of the liquid pain reliever that Arthur had given her last night. She fumbled through the cupboard, finding nothing. No pain reliever.

"You've got to be kidding me." Her headache was mounting to a migraine quite quickly, and she felt like her back might give out on her, not to mention the swelling that she felt inside her throat. She rubbed her forehead and looked in the fridge. They needed milk, butter, and more cheese. "Might as well." She said with a sigh, grabbing her keys and her purse. She walked out the front door and locked it behind her, heading for the grocery store.

After trudging through the store, she finally found everything she was looking for and headed back to the apartment. Ariadne, in a daze, passed the turn she was supposed to make. She let out an aggravated sigh and turned on to the next street, hoping it would take her somewhere familiar.

And familiar it was.

She drove down a small road, coming to a stop when she saw the warehouse. "Oh no..." She whispered.

The door to the warehouse was wide open, the interior was dark as night. Someone had broken in. She thought of all the papers and drawings she had left there the day before. They would be compromised for sure, whoever had gotten to her last night, had gotten in the warehouse this morning.

Ariadne threw open her door, pulling her phone out of her pocket and dialed Arthur's number.

Arthur finally got back to the apartment, taking up a few boxes with him. He unlocked the door and set them down on the floor. "Ariadne?" He asked.

Nothing. He walked over to the window and looked out, her car wasn't there.

"You've got to be kidding me. Where did you go?" He asked himself. He saw that the cupboard was open and could tell that she had rummaged around in there. What would she be looking for?

It dawned on him, they were out of the liquid pain reliever. She must have gone to the grocery store. Just then, his phone rang.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Arthur! Someone's broken into the warehouse!" She said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"What? Where are you?" He asked, fear finding its way into his stomach.

"I was at the grocery store, getting stuff, and I missed the turn, I ended up by the warehouse. The door is wide open, our stuff is gone! Gone, Arthur!" She was on the cusp of sheer panic.

"Ariadne, get away from there, NOW." He said, his voice rising. "Just drive away." He said, hoping she would listen. "I have all of our stuff. We knew we were being watched-"

He heard something, or someone in the background.

"Hey there..." He heard. His eyes widened, and Arthur made straight for the car.

Ariadne stood stalk still. She flinched when she saw a man come from around the corner of the warehouse. "Arthur!" She yelled into the phone. "There are people here!"

"I know! Get out. Run! Drive! Something!" He yelled into the phone, practically jumping down the stairs of the apartment complex.

Ariadne clutched the phone with her hand, her knuckles turning white. She turned, trying to run in the opposite direction of the man, but found herself in the arms of another.

"NO!" She screamed. She had already lived through this nightmare once, she didn't need to do it again.

"No need alerting the neighborhood of our presence. If you'll be quiet, we'll get this over with soon." One of them said, grabbing her arms and yanking her toward a dark colored van parked on the side of the road.

"No! I am not going! I won't!" She yelled.

Arthur frantically got into his car, he could hear her screaming. Why hadn't he told her just not to leave the apartment for anything? He revved the engine and took off.

"Leave me alone!" She screamed. She kicked and flailed, thrust her arms out and hit whatever she could. They shoved her into the van where they tied her hands together, as well as her ankles. Her phone lay discarded on the asphalt outside.

"ARTHUR!" She screamed. "Dark van! License plate 213 U-" She was cut off as a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Now now, we don't want you giving away our information." The man she had first seen said to her.

He picked up her phone and put it to his ear. "Hello?" He asked nicely.

"Don't touch her!" Arthur snarled, he was so close. Just a few more minutes and he'd be there.

He could hear Ariadne yelling in the background. "See you here in a few, Arthur..." The man said.

He heard Ariadne's screaming cut off as the line went dead.

* * *

Ahhhhh! I'm soooo evil...Another cliffy! Leave a review! No flames, please. Thank you! :)


	6. Chapter 6

Wow, so between going to classes at the university, having a boyfriend, and working, my life is a bit of a rollercoaster, and I just can't seem to find the time to write! It's driving me crazy! In a lot of ways, it's my stress-relief, so I'm hoping that I'll feel somewhat refreshed after I've posted this. I hope you like it, leave me some reviews, that would be lovely!

Once again, I do not own Inception. I can only wish I did.

**Chapter Six**

Arthur arrived at the warehouse, not bothering to turn off his car. He didn't even put it in park. He threw the parking break on and rushed out of the car, looking around wildly. After the line had gone dead he knew it was futile in calling Ariadne's phone, so he had called Eames, who had let out a string of colorful words. He would be here in minutes.

He spotted Ariadne's car, the door open and the engine still running. He ran to it, looking inside and noticing the grocery bags and her purse lying on the floor of the car. He tried to remember what Ariadne had been screaming.

Van...

License plate number...but what had she said? He wracked his brain for what she had yelled to him. He turned off her car and slammed the door shut in his anger. He paced back and forth on the sidewalk next to the warehouse. He was letting his emotions get the best of him. He couldn't let that happen, the best way to find Ariadne was to think logically and rationally.

He called out in desperation, "Ariadne!" Hoping to hear her answer back, to come running out of the warehouse to him.

"She's not here."

Arthur whipped around, his gun already out and pointed at the person whose voice had just sounded. He grabbed the man's collar and shoved him up against the side of the warehouse.

"Where is she?" He hissed, pointing the gun at the man's head.

"I don't know." He said plainly. "I wasn't invited."

Arthur's face was set in a menacing frown, "I seriously doubt that."

A car screeched around the corner, Arthur already knew who it was.

"Where is she?" He heard Eames holler, he walked right up and punched the man in the face. Arthur stepped back from the man, glad to have seen that. "Where are they taking her?" Eames asked, "I swear, if you do anything to her, I WILL kill you. Slowly, and painfully." He whispered dangerously, getting up close and personal, his finger poking the man's chest.

The man snorted, "I don't doubt that, Mr. Eames."

Eames seemed startled, "How do you know me?" He asked cautiously, glancing around.

"Ah, you are right to feel paranoid, and you should. There are men watching us as we speak." The man spit on the ground, blood and saliva mixing together.

Arthur took a deep breath. "Why are you here? What could you possibly want from us?" He asked.

The man smiled, "You see, Mr. Harris is very adept at finding out...things..." He paused, looking down at his hand with apparent interest. It bothered Arthur to no end. He was playing with them, luring them in.

"Much like you, Arthur. He knows that Saito hired you to delve into his mind and uncover his true intentions. He can't have that. So, instead of performing Extraction on dear Mr. Harris, we ask you to perform Inception on Saito. Convince him of Mr. Harris' supposed innocence."

Arthur could feel his heart sinking to his shoes.

"And if we don't comply..." He trailed off.

"I think you can use your imagination. Miss Ariadne would not last more than a day if you decided to decline."

Arthur felt his insides twist. How could this have happened? Eames would be sure to rail on him as soon as they were somewhere private. He could imagine how the conversation would go and was not looking forward to it.

"In order to get your Ariadne back, or in your case Arthur, your wife, you have to go through with the Inception with Saito." He looked at them with a smirk on his face.

"All right, Mr...uh, what should I call you?" Eames asked, a question in his eyes. "Mr. jackass?" He said spit.

The man laughed humorlessly, "Mr. Larsen is fine."

Arthur clenched his jaw. How was this getting them anywhere? Even after they performed Inception on Saito, they wouldn't be able to know for sure whether or not Ariadne was really all right.

"We can't perform something as deep and fragile like Inception without a good Architect. And Ariadne is the only one we've got." Arthur said, his eyes fixed on Larsen.

"You're lying Arthur, and you know it." Larsen said, an eyebrow raising, as if to scold a child.

Arthur didn't say anything, but Eames took a deep breath, "Cobb retired. There's no way he'd go back into the field."

"We'll do it. We'll get Cobb." Arthur blurted. Eames shot him a look. "On one condition." He held up a finger.

"I hardly think you are in any position to be bargaining with me." Larsen said quietly.

"I ask that we can talk to her on the phone every night. Just so we know that she's still okay." There was a slight look of pleading in his eyes. Eames could not believe the softy that Arthur had turned into. He wanted to yell at him, _"Get a grip, man!"_ and shake him.

Larsen pondered the suggestion for a moment. "I'll run it by Mr. Harris, but there's no guarantee. The best I can give is the information that if this is performed correctly, she will survive." He turned and started to walk away. Arthur had the strong urge to shoot him, but knew that wouldn't help Ariadne at all.

"By the way Arthur, that ring you gave her is quite exquisite." Larsen glanced back and smiled, "I'll contact you in 24 hours from now." He said, turning the corner and disappearing.

Eames rounded on Arthur, "This was _not_ the plan. This was not supposed to happen." He hissed.

"Of course it wasn't in the plan!" Arthur bellowed. It was the first time in months that he had really yelled at someone. He took a deep breath to compose himself.

"As Point Man, you are supposed to look out for her-for us." Eames said, catching himself.

"What was that?" Arthur asked, completely confused.

"I put you two together because I knew, _I knew_, that you could protect her better than any of the rest of us could. Including Cobb, in my opinion. But that doesn't bloody matter now, because they got past even _you_!" He shouted at Arthur. He ran a hand down his face.

Arthur wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult of some kind. He chose not to think about it. "It doesn't matter, they got past us, and now they have Ariadne to use against us. We obviously need to come up with some kind of plan." Arthur said, different ideas already running through his head.

"Where do you think we should start?" He asked.

"Los Angeles." Arthur stated, walking to Ariadne's car and taking out her belongings and putting them in his own car. He would leave hers here, parked at the warehouse.

* * *

The second the doors closed on the van, she knew Arthur wouldn't make it in time. Why had she decided to stop at the warehouse? Curiosity. That's what it always was with her. That's what got her into things with Cobb, her curiosity had overwhelmed her when she had seen Cobb hooked up to the machine in the warehouse back in Paris. She couldn't help herself but to see what he was dreaming of. In that instance, she was glad she had done what she did, because it had warned her of the potential dangers in the dreamworld. But right now, sitting in the van, she wished she had never decided to get out of the car when she passed the warehouse.

She was bound and gagged, and could feel herself falling in and out of consciousness. She was pretty sure they had drugged her at one point during their car ride. She was guessing they were somewhere in New York, because all she could hear was the honking of horns and the screeching tires that sounded like the hustle and bustle in a busy city. Finally, they opened the doors letting in some light. With a hazy mind, she noticed they were in an underground parking lot, but one that was completely vacated. Their vehicle was the only one in there.

'How convenient.' She thought to herself.

She felt a pair of hands drag her out of the car and set her on her feet. She swayed dangerously, and heard someone yell, she turned in their direction, but felt the person that had pulled her out of the car tie her own scarf across her eyes, blinding her.

"Do me a favor and carry her, otherwise she'll be throwing up all over the place from over-exertion." That same person muttered.

She thought she recognized the voice from somewhere. She tried to squint through the fabric, but only felt herself going cross-eyed. She gasped in surprise as one of the men that had accompanied them picked her up and slung her over their shoulder, letting her head bob against their back.

She heard the familiar _Ding!_ of an elevator as she felt it lift. The man stood with her, draped over his shoulder, her hands still tied. The door opened and they stepped out. The man set her on her feet and pushed her forward.

"Hey, missy. Don't even think about screaming. No one will hear you." That familiar voice rang out. She frowned, trying to remember. It's not like she could scream anyway, she was gagged with ductape over her mouth. She felt a hand at the back of her head, untying her favorite scarf from over her eyes. She blinked a few times, getting used to the lighting. Her eyes finally focused, and she was staring at the man that had almost choked her to death the night before. His face was cut and scratched up, and anytime he shifted, he winced in pain. He looked pretty banged up, and she knew exactly why. Arthur.

Her eyes widened and she turned in the opposite direction, but there was no where to go. The elevator door had closed, with a guard standing in front of it, and there was only one other door to go through, and it was probably one they were going to take her through anyway. Stairs? Where were the stairs? She felt him grab her hands that were tied behind her back. He yanked her toward him, and she flew backwards, falling against him. He wrapped his arms around her.

"You know, although you seem to be married, we could still have some fun, right?" He leered.

Ariadne could feel herself getting sick at the idea he was grasping at. She shook her head vehemently. He forced her around to look at him. He grabbed a corner of the tape across her mouth and yanked it off. She gasped as they pulled the gag out and threw it to the floor.

"NO!" She yelled in his face when he pulled her closer. "You're sick, and a coward!" She said venomously. "Kidnapping me in order to get what you want, you'll regret it. They'll find me, and when they do, you'll be wishing you were dead rather than go through what they have planned for you!" She spat.

The man narrowed his eyes at her, "I don't think so. You see, they are no match for the person they're going up against. And who is, 'they' by the way? Is this your husband, Arthur, we're talking about?" Ariadne's breathing quickened. "Yes...I see. So you two met during a job, then, I presume. And you do the job together still? That's dangerous..." He mused. "Might end up losing yourselves within your own minds."

"Where have you brought me?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Good try with transitioning the subject, but I'm not finished yet." He said, wagging his finger at her. "I was asked to interrogate you, which I failed to do the first time. Now, what does Arthur specialize in, hmm?" He asked.

She said nothing.

"Come on, we don't want a repeat of last time, do we?" He said, smiling a little.

"I think you already know." Ariadne said quietly. She wasn't going to give him the information. He was going to have to work it out himself. And even then, she wasn't going to confirm any of his theories.

"I'm guessing...that Arthur is the point man, and Eames is the...well, forger? I'm guessing? And Yusuf, well, we know for sure he's the chemist. So that leaves you, as the architect." He smiled.

She stared at him, but didn't utter a word. "Well, that'll have to do for now. Mr. Harris is not a patient person." He whispered. He opened the door and pushed her in. The first thing she noticed was how exquisite the penthouse was. Cream colored carpet, dark burgundy walls, and low lighting, but very spacious. She stood stalk still, waiting.

"Hello, Miss Ariadne." She heard a voice to her left. She looked to see a rather tall and lean man in his late thirties or early forties. He was quite handsome, but...not as handsome as a certain point man, and Arthur wasn't nearly as old.

"I hope you had a pleasant trip over." He said, mocking her with a small smile. He looked down at his fingers, picking at a hangnail. He looked completely clean and well groomed, where she had her dirt covered skinny jeans, a torn t-shirt, and her hair was in complete disarray. She didn't say anything. She just wished she wasn't standing in that penthouse with such a terrible man.

"Oh, I guess I haven't introduced myself. I'm Mr. Harris." He said, sticking out a hand to shake.

She looked at him with anger in her eyes. Of course she wasn't going to shake hands with him, her hands were still tied behind her back. He chuckled, "Oh yes, I forget that the men I hire are completely barbaric, but I must say, it's the only way I can keep things from getting out of hand." He winked. "We'll have to keep that rope tied around your wrists on for a bit longer."

She was hating this man with every passing minute. "Why don't you have a seat?" He asked, but pushed her toward a couch just past the entryway. He opened the door and ushered the other men to come in.

"Well, Ariadne. We've heard some pretty remarkable things about you, dear." Mr. Harris said. "Apparently you're just as good as Cobb, or even better." He looked her over, his eyes lingering on her longer than she really felt comfortable with.

"We're going to put you to the test. We'll hook you up to the dream machine and see how you do." He said quietly, motioning for one of the men to get the case. Ariadne felt her heart rate speed up a bit.

They untied her hands from the back of her, and retied them so that they were in front of her. They inserted a needle into her arm, not all that nicely, and pressed the spongy button in the middle of the machine. Ariadne felt herself submerge into darkness.

* * *

Arthur sat on a plane, waiting for it to land. Once it taxied and finally docked to the terminal, he walked quickly through the airport. He had brought a simple carry on bag with him. He grabbed a taxi and took it straight to Cobb's house.

Cobb stood at the kitchen sink, rinsing off a few apples and then proceeding to cut them when he heard a hard knock at the front door.

"Who on earth?..." He trailed off, walking to the door and finding Phillipa already there, opening the door.

"Phillipa! Sweetheart, what did I say about opening the door to strangers?" He asked looking down at her, not even realizing who it was at the door.

"But daddy, it's uncle Arthur!" She pointed.

Cobb looked up in surprise. "Arthur. What are you doing here?" Cobb asked, his voice strange. He was both happy and wary to see the Point Man on his door step.

"Cobb, I know you're done, but I need your help." Arthur said, breathing deeply, his eyebrows creased upward in a pleading look.

"Arthur, you know I can't-" Cobb started, but Arthur interrupted.

"They took Ariadne." Arthur said quietly.

"Who?" Cobb said, his voice lowering. "Phillipa, go play with James. Dad needs to speak with Arthur alone." Phillipa frowned but nodded and walked away.

Cobb motioned for Arthur to come in and sit down.

"Who took her?" He asked. He was hoping it wasn't Cobol.

"Mr. Harris. Saito asked us to do an extraction job for him, he had reason to believe that his business associate, Mr. Harris, was plotting against the United States." Arthur paused, looking down at his hands, his ring still around his left finger. He flashed back to the day when he and Ariadne had been in the airport, waiting for their flight, and she had scrutinized every detail of the ring and his finger. "Mr. Harris knew where to find us. They got to Ariadne, and the only way to get her back is if we perform inception on Saito and convince him that Mr. Harris isn't plotting anything treasonous." Arthur glanced up at Cobb, to gauge his reaction.

Cobb's face was tight with emotion that Arthur couldn't decipher. "Arthur..." He started, "I can't leave my family again." He said.

Arthur couldn't believe his ears. "You're the one. _You_," He pointed at Cobb, his voice deadly quiet, " you are the one that brought her into this." He whispered in a fierce tone.

Cobb looked at Arthur and shook his head, "You're the one that offered her the second job."

Arthur put his head in his hands, "Cobb, you started it."

Cobb laughed humorlessly. "You're being childish, Arthur. Trying to place the blame on someone but yourself." He said.

"No, I accept the blame. I know I should have protected her better than what I had been. I know there would be risk in this job, just like the other one, not as much, but still some measure of it. But I wasn't the one, who _left_ _her_ wanting for more. I wasn't the one, who let her dream up things she could never accomplish in real life. Yes, I do accept that I probably baited her, automatically assuming that she would want in on the next job. But you did the exact same thing to me." Arthur said, anger and hurt displayed on his face.

Cobb didn't say anything, but got up and paced the room. "I won't perform another Inception, Arthur. If you can find another way, I'll help you." He said quietly.

Arthur rubbed his temple, he couldn't figure out another way to convince Saito. "I thought you'd be more willing to help, Cobb. I'm disappointed. You were like a father to her, I hope you know that."

He got up from his seat on the couch and opened the front door and left. Cobb stood, staring at the place where Arthur had just been sitting.

"Daddy, is uncle Arthur angry?" Phillipa asked quietly.

Cobb didn't answer for a moment. "Yes."

"Who is he mad at?" She asked.

"Me." He whispered.

He reached for the phone and called his father-in-law.

Arthur flew all the way back to New Jersey, still angry at Cobb. How could he have said no like that? Ariadne needed him...she needed them all, and they had no idea where to start. The 24 hours were almost up, and they needed a plan to propose to Mr. Larsen. They needed the upper hand.

"So? What did Cobb say?" Eames asked the moment Arthur walked into the apartment complex.

"No." Arthur said, opening the door to his and Ariandne's apartment and slamming it behind him. He needed an architect, but he couldn't figure out where to find one, a trustworthy one. That would take far too long. He had just shy of six hours before he needed a plan in motion.

He thought of all the work it would take to get Saito to go into the dream with them, they had gained his trust since the last time he hired them to perform Inception on Fischer, but that was stretching it. If they insisted that he come with them, it might raise suspicions.

Inception...it was so dangerous, and so precisely calculated. They had to come up with it in less than a week, if they really were going to go through with it. They had to, but with the Fischer job, they had had more than two months. If Arthur knew where Mr. Harris was, he would be there in an instant, fight through anything he had to in order to get Ariadne back. He ran a hand through is hair, messing it up a bit. He pulled out his die and threw it on the table. Two. It always landed on two in reality. He threw it again.

Two.

Oh how he wished it wasn't reality, that it was all just a dream. That Ariadne was back and living here with him. That she really could be married to him...

He snapped himself out of it and began pacing the room. Her purse and other belongings sat discarded on the table. The whole apartment smelled of her, reminded him of her.

_I won't perform another Inception, Arthur. If you can find another way, I'll help you._

"Something besides Inception..." Arthur said, his fingers rubbing his chin.

He sat there for what felt like three or four hours, trying to think of how they would do the Inception, if they would have to go as deep, but that was the problem. If they went more than two layers, Saito would know it was more than an extraction. He had gone through the entire Inception with them in the Fischer job, there was no one they could play that up as an Extraction. He glanced at the clock and, true to his feelings, it had been three and a half hours since he had come home from the airport. Home.

Nothing was coming to him. Why was this so hard? Things usually weren't this hard for him to figure out. Extraction...he felt like he was on to something. Maybe it was simpler than he realized. The presence of Ariadne's things all around him, but not Ariadne herself, were driving him crazy. He had to get out. Go somewhere he could think easier.

He stood and made for the door, turned the knob and pulled, swinging it open.

"Hello Arthur."

* * *

Whew! Sorry about that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More to come soon. Soon-er, I promise! Leave me a review, please! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Ooooooooh maaaaaaan...Finals are brutal! I'm getting through them though. Sorry it's taking me so long to update my story. I hope you're still following! Enjoy :)

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Ariadne walked down a street she recognized from somewhere...something about it reminded her of the warehouse back in Paris. She thought hard for a moment, and then it came to her suddenly. It was the first time she had ever dream-shared, when she had sat at the corner cafe and listened to him talk to her about dreams. She hadn't even realized she was dreaming, then.

She pulled her totem out of her pocket and set it on the sidewalk and flicked it. It fell over half way, and then reset itself to its regular position. She was definitely dreaming. She looked around her and noticed all the projections walking around. She knew she was the dreamer, she had come up with this street in the first place, none of the men in penthouse had ever seen this before. So whose projections were these? If anything, she didn't want to make them realize they were dreaming. She had found that out the hard way when she had done this with Cobb the first time.

She looked around and didn't notice anyone she recognized. What was she supposed to do?

Impress them.

How was she supposed to do that?

"This isn't what I was expecting." Someone said from behind her.

She turned to find Mr. Harris. "I was expecting something more...grand." He said, waving his fingers in the air.

"You can't force me to do anything you want me to. I won't." She said quietly.

"You will do what we ask, or you'll suffer pain each and every dream." He whispered, walking closer to her, circling her. "You'll find it hard not to try your best each dream, no one can withstand pain for very long. Even if it's not entirely real. The mind can come up with things that the body cannot even endure."

Ariadne felt herself shiver. She didn't even really know what was extraordinary or not. She'd only been an architect for a job once. Did they know that?

"You'll change this somehow," he motioned to everything around them, "or you'll wake up soon, and not by kind means." He said coldly.

Ariadne nodded, but stood where she was. She was accepting his threat.

Mr. Harris's eyebrows raised. "So that's how you want it? Fine." He pulled out a gun and shot her in the arm.

She screamed in pain and crumpled to the ground. She thought she would have more resolve than that. Apparently not.

She sat there, blood dripping down her arm, through the sleeve of her jacket. She looked up to see him pointing the gun at her head, she closed her eyes and waited.

She woke up with a gasp, hoping to wake up and find Arthur there, ready to comfort her, telling her to breathe. She looked around. No Arthur this time.

She noticed that two of the men were still asleep, but Mr. Harris had woken up just after her. "I think that could change your mind. I'll steadily make it worse each time you don't comply." He said menacingly.

She felt her lower lip begin to tremble and fought it. She bit her bottom lip and squeezed her eyes shut. She could do this. Arthur would find her.

"We'll try again in a few hours. For now, I suggest you lay there and really think about what you're going to do the next time we go under." He said, tipping the others over in their chairs and heading through a doorway, out of her line of sight.

Ariadne laid there and thought about it. Paradoxes, mazes, the look and feel of the dream. Arthur had taught her about paradoxes, she thought of the Penrose steps and how they had really baffled her the first time she had walked up and down on them with Arthur. She would use the usual Parisian street and cafe corner the next time they went into the dream and see what he would do to her next. She knew she was only putting herself through torture, but if it gave her team more time to find her, then so be it.

* * *

Arthur was truly surprised, and not many things surprised him too much any more.

Cobb stood in his doorway at the apartment complex. "I'm here to help, Arthur. I couldn't leave Ariadne to fend for herself any more than you can."

Arthur felt overwhelming relief surge through him, his shoulders sagged as he released the pent up tension. "Thank you, Dom." He took his hand and slung his arm around him in a partial hug, Cobb doing the same.

"And I couldn't leave my brother to get himself killed." Cobb said with a small smile that meant to say he really was sorry. "And..." He paused as he walked into the apartment. He opened his mouth to finish his sentence and then frowned. "Wait a second. Who's living here?" He asked, confused.

"Ariadne and I." Arthur said.

Cobb looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not what you think." Arthur said hastily, "We left the fake I.D.s to Eames, and he made Ariadne and I a married couple."

Cobb smiled and laughed, "That's just like Eames. Why don't you go get him and Yusuf so I can tell you of an idea that I have."

Arthur nodded and rushed out the door.

A few minutes later, they all sat in Arthur and Ariadne's living room, waiting for Cobb to explain himself.

"Here's what I'm thinking. Inception is too risky, going down so many levels in order to plant an idea that Saito won't even believe, since he knows how we did Inception last time, and in order to convince him, he needs to be in the dream with us. He'll recognize Inception the minute we even try it." Cobb explained.

Arthur nodded in agreement.

"I think, we should use Extraction. We'll act as though we're extracting the information from Mr. Harris's mind, when really, we'll be in someone else's subconscious, but Saito won't know this. Mr. Harris will still be there, acting as though he doesn't know what's going on, and the vault we open will have information in it that states Mr. Harris's supposed innocence. It'll be a counterfeit. Saito will think it's real, he'll read it and think he's reading Mr. Harris's true secrets, but it'll be a ruse. We'll plant it there. What ever Mr. Harris wants Saito to find, he'll find in that vault." Cobb took a deep breath, "Then after we get Ariadne back, we'll tell Saito the truth. We've been through a lot with him, and I can't thank him enough for helping me get back to my children, I owe him that much."

The entire room nodded in unison. Arthur looked down at his shoes, it was the perfect idea, why hadn't he been able to think of it sooner? He glanced around the room and once again, noticed everything that belonged to Ariadne, there was something of hers on every surface. He had been so distracted by her and what she might be going through, or where she might be, that he hadn't been able to think straight. He was just glad Cobb was there to help.

They sat for a moment, digesting the idea when Arthur's phone rang.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hello Arthur. This is Mr. Larsen. Have you gathered your team?" He asked.

"Yes, I have. Mr. Cobb will be the architect." He said.

"Good, I'm glad he decided to join. Ariadne will be happy to hear that." He said.

"I want to talk to her." Arthur said hastily.

"Ah, in good time, Arthur. In good time. I'll be over at your apartment within the hour. I hope you have a plan to offer."

The phone clicked and went dead. Arthur and the rest of the group let out a collective frustrated sigh.

"She'll be all right. She's strong." Cobb said quietly. Arthur could only hope he was right.

* * *

Ariadne was now sitting on a chair in the living room, her wrists were tied to the arms of the chair, her palms facing up, while her ankles were tied to the legs of the chair, and a rather thick rope was wound across her abdomen and around the back of the chair. She heard some movement from the other room.

"I'm going to the apartment now, to talk to the team. I'll let you know what their plan is as soon as I get back." A man said, she had learned earlier that his name was Mr. Larsen. They never called each other by their first names here. She decided that that was another reason why she liked her team, they went by first names, it was more personal. It felt like they were a family. Here, she was a prisoner.

As he walked past her to the front door, he glanced in her direction. "Will you let me talk to them?" She paused. "To Arthur, at least?" She asked, hesitant.

"That's up to Mr. Harris." He said as he walked out the door.

She sat and hung her head. She felt like this would never end.

About two and a half hours later, Mr. Harris came back to the living room with the case. They would be dreaming again.

"Let me remind you of what will happen if you don't show us what you can do." He said quietly. He took out his gun and pointed it at her. "If you don't do what we ask, you won't last very long, and I mean in reality. Not in the dream world." He stated. "Are we clear?" He asked as though he was talking to a child.

Ariadne nodded.

"Well then, let's get started."

She entered the black abyss with a cold shiver, feeling as though the entire sun had been blotted out.

Ariadne walked down the sidewalk of Paris, feeling the warm sun on her face and took a bite out of a cinnamon roll. She savored the taste and walked further down the road, coming upon the bridge that stretched across the river, and led to the University. Just another day at school. She was so close to being done with her degree, it was almost infuriating. She took one step up the staircase to the bridge when someone intentionally knocked her roll out of her hand. She didn't even have to time to think of anything to say before his hand closed around her throat.

"Where were you before you started walking down the road?" He asked quietly.

She stared intently at the man, and knew she recognized him from somewhere. She thought hard for a moment. One of Mr. Harris's men.

"I'm dreaming..." She choked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Of course you are. You're the architect! You're supposed to have come up with somewhere interesting, something to prove how great you are within the dream world." He said.

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, she could barely breathe. He let go of her throat and grabbed his gun. "Mr. Harris will not be pleased, once again." He said coldly.

She felt herself tense at the sight of the gun, she didn't want to go through the terrible pain of being shot in a dream again. She took a deep breath and thought about her options. Either do what they wanted, or hold out and endure a lot of pain.

"Tell me, why didn't you design something worthy of what we need?" He practically yelled at her.

"I still hadn't thought of anything, I wasn't prepared. You didn't give me enough time, normally I can draw out my mazes and paradoxes and architectural designs. I can build models and actually feel comfortable doing it." She said, pointing at him, lecturing him.

"Well, you're going to have to do better than that." He said, pointing the gun at her.

She felt her chest constrict and a feeling of dread rise. She closed her eyes and waited.

A shot rang out and she felt intense pain in her leg. She collapsed to the ground, holding her leg with her hands, trying to stem the blood flow.

"It doesn't matter. You might as well bleed out. You'll die no matter what." He said as he pulled the trigger on himself. Ariadne watched him crumple and fall to the ground. He was back in reality, and she was stuck here, in pain.

She groaned, rolling on to her other side, still holding her leg. She wondered how much time she had left before she woke up.

* * *

Arthur waited next to the door for what seemed like half a day. How long could Larsen really take to get here? Finally, he heard a knock at the door and swung it open.

"Ah, Arthur. How good to see you." Mr. Larsen said with a fake smile.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, but opened the door further.

"I trust you have something to present to me?" Larsen asked the Point Man.

"We do." He said, leading him into the living room and taking a seat with the rest of the team. Cobb stood and explained the procedure to Mr. Larsen.

"...so, we would need Mr. Harris to come with us into the dream, to convince Saito of-"

"No." Mr. Larsen interjected.

"Excuse me?" Cobb asked.

"Mr. Harris will not be accompanying you in the dream. We will not risk that." Larsen said clearly.

Cobb looked up at the ceiling as if to ask, "Why me?" and stared back down at Larsen. "Well, I don't know how we're going to pull this off then." Cobb said, folding his arms and looking at Larsen expectantly.

"Well, you've got a Forger, don't you?" Larsen stated, motioning toward Eames.

"Oh for heaven's sake, do I really need to impersonate that son of a-"

"Eames will be glad to do it." Arthur interjected, emotionless. Eames rolled his eyes.

"Would be glad to do it." He mocked in a high voice. "Fine. Only if we get Ariadne back." He said.

Mr. Larsen nodded, "That is still the arrangement, of course." He smiled, turning back to Cobb. "So instead of Mr. Harris, Eames will be impersonating him. Please, continue." He waved his hand at Cobb.

Cobb grimaced, "All right, so Eames will impersonate Mr. Harris, we'll need to get every bit of detail about Mr. Harris from you so that Eames can pull that off. I'll design a layout that is both comfortable to Saito and to Harris, well, the fake Harris, that is. We'll place a safe in there, and we'll have Saito open it and read the papers, which will detail Mr. Harris's innocence and place the blame upon someone else."

Yusuf sat quietly listening, "So, Mr. Harris will be with us in reality, but not in the dream."

Mr. Larsen nodded slowly, "Yes, we'll stage something so that you men will 'ambush' him and pretend to slip a needle into his wrist. You'll only make it look as though he's gone under. The rest of you will go into the dream." Mr. Larsen said.

"But what about me? Wouldn't that be weird if Saito sees everyone go into the dream, but I don't show up once we hit the dream world? I'll be playing as Mr. Harris." Eames countered.

"You'll tell him you are there for security reasons in reality. You'll wait until Saito goes under, before going under yourself." Larsen stated.

He had obviously thought this one out. Along with many other things...

Arthur nodded. "Can we talk to Ariadne?" He asked, hoping to keep the desperation and concern out of his voice.

Mr. Larsen glanced at his watch, "I'm actually waiting for Mr. Harris to call me."

Arthur frowned, that hadn't really answered his question.

Just then, Larsen's phone buzzed and the room went silent. "Ah, and there it is." He opened the phone.

"Hello Mr. Harris." He said. "Put Arthur on? Well all right then." He leaned over and handed the phone to Arthur.

He grabbed it and put the phone up to his ear, "Hello?" He asked, getting up from his chair and pacing a little.

"Hello Arthur. How goes it?" Mr. Harris asked.

"I need to talk with Ariadne." Arthur said, steel in his tone.

"Oh you will, I'm just waiting for her to wake up."

"Wake up? What do you mean?..." Arthur asked.

"Oh, we're just having some fun in the dream world..." Mr. Harris said slowly.

Arthur felt his heart speed up. "If you've done anything to her, whether it be in reality, or in a dream, I will kill you." He said quietly.

"Too late. Ah, here she is now."

Arthur heard her gasping, "Arthur?" She asked, tears springing to her eyes.

"Ariadne!" He said, glad to hear her voice, just to know she was alive.

"I can't even tell you what I've been through, it's probably nothing compared to what you might have gone through already in past jobs and dreams, but-"

"It doesn't matter about me, are you all right? What happened?" Arthur asked.

"He keeps taking me into the dream world, telling me to build something spectacular, to show him what I'm capable of, but I have no idea what to give him." She said, he could hear her crying, her voice thick with emotion.

Harris was torturing her. He knew it.

"Hey, it's okay. You're going to be fine. I'm going to get you back." He said quietly, "Just remember what I taught you. Show them what you can do. I don't want you to be hurt, Ariadne." He felt his heart ache at her whimper of confirmation.

"Okay, I'll try." She said sadly.

"I'll find you. I promise." He said quietly.

"No, wait! Please!" Arthur heard Ariadne call, he closed his eyes and felt anger pour through his body as he heard the snide voice of Mr. Harris again.

"I'm glad you convinced her. It's not very fun getting shot. I'll see you soon, Arthur." Mr. Harris said and hung up.

Shot? They shot her. At least once or twice within the dreamworld. He hoped they would refrain from that in reality. He had to get to her, and fast. The cool, calm Arthur felt his hands shaking. He'd never been this out of control before. Usually, he was the one that had everything in control and taken care of. How had all this happened?

"Mr. Harris will be in Texas for a conference two days from now. I suggest you come up with a plan and quickly, because I need to know every detail before you try anything. He'll be staying at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Antonio, Texas." Mr. Larsen interrupted Arthur's thoughts.

"Yes, we'll have something to offer you by tomorrow morning." Cobb stated, glancing around at the others.

"I'll be waiting for your call." He slipped a business card on to the chair that he had been sitting on and made his way to the door. He opened it and paused, "Don't even try coming after her, we will not hesitate to kill her." He was looking directly at Arthur, but spoke to the rest of the room as well. "Farewell." He closed the door behind him, a resounding click sprang through the air. They had ten hours to come up with a flawless plan, along with the fact that they had to get Saito in on the job. After hours of plotting and planning, Cobb finally made the call to Saito.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Mr. Saito, Dominic Cobb speaking." He could hear the note of surprise in Saito's tone.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked.

"Ariadne was too overwhelmed with school and work to participate any longer in the Extraction, so I'm going to be the architect." He stated, almost as a challenge.

"Well, I can't argue with that, except that I am a little wary of letting you in on the Job. How do I know you will not mess this up as with Inception?" Saito asked cautiously.

There was a pause, "Mr. Saito, I can assure you-"

"No, I think it might be best if you step this one out, Mr. Cobb." He said.

"Saito, please. We have a perfect opportunity at getting Mr. Harris alone, and there won't be enough time to find another Architect-"

"All right, Mr. Cobb, but I want to be there, in the dream, so that I can maybe...dissuade, a certain woman from preventing our Extraction process in any way." Saito said, rubbing his chin. He was sitting in his large company building in the heart of Tokyo, Japan.

"Sir, I assure you that Mal will not make an appearance." Cobb insisted.

"Yes, but I have met your shade of that woman in a dream, remember? I want to be there if it goes wrong. Then I will know exactly what happened." He explained.

"All right, Saito. If you insist, you may accompany us. We're meeting at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, in San Antonio, Texas. Tomorrow night." Cobb said, smiling. Saito had taken the bait.

All of them bought plane tickets for Texas that night. "None of us should be aware of the other. Don't make anyone think that we know one another." Cobb said, looking around at the team.

They all nodded and Eames and Yusuf left to pack and get some much needed rest from the anxiety of the day. Arthur sat with his shoulders hunched forward and his arms on his knees. He couldn't get the idea of Ariadne being shot, or hurt in any way, out of his mind. He was angry, angry at Larsen, angry at Harris, and angry at himself.

"Arthur?"

He glanced up, seeing Cobb's worried face. Cobb had never been that worried for Arthur before. He supposed it was because being back in his old life as a father was bringing out those qualities.

"I know how much you care for Ariadne." Cobb said quietly.

Ah, so that was it.

"And I'm sorry I had been so hard to persuade to come here to help. I should have come with you when you left my house. I was just-"

"I know, Cobb. It's okay. I'm glad you're here." Arthur cut him off, he knew it was hard for Cobb to apologize, "I'm sure it was hard to leave your kids behind for the second time. But you won't be cut off from them again, I'll make sure of it." Arthur said, he could see Cobb relax a little.

"Do you mind if I stayed here? There wasn't a nearby hotel, and I took a cab to the apartment." Cobb said.

"Of course I don't mind, please do. You can take the spare room." It was really his room, but he wasn't going to have Cobb sleeping on the couch.

"The spare room...so...you and Ariadne..." Cobb's eyebrows were raised high up on his forehead.

"What? Oh no. No. I was in the spare room, she was in the main bedroom." Arthur supplied, he was sure he was blushing.

"And you're not staying in the spare room tonight..." Cobb said, just a little confused.

"No. You can. I'll stay in Ariadne's, or I'll sleep on the couch." Arthur said.

Cobb shook his head, "You don't have to, Arthur-"

"Please, don't worry about it. You flew all the way out here, you haven't eaten anything, and the second you got here you had to plan and scheme away the day." Arthur said, motioning toward his room. "Go to bed, Cobb."

Cobb smiled, "Yes, mother."

Arthur turned and took in the sight of the messy living room and peered into the kitchen. He couldn't bring himself to clean up any of Ariadne's stuff. He wanted to leave everything where it had been, it felt like she was still here, even though she wasn't.

He ran a hand down his face, squeezing his eyes shut. How he wished this was all just a dream, a really bad dream. He wished he could wake up, and she would be there.

He turned and walked into the laundry room, finding a pair of pajamas and changed his clothes. He opened the door to Ariadne's room and sat on the bed. This could either turn out to be a really great night's rest, or it could be terrible. He was thinking the second option. Arthur could only think of the torture they were putting her through. It took all his self restraint not to leave the apartment and go looking for her.

He threw the covers down and laid down in bed, and as his head hit the pillow, he thought only of her.

Arthur walked down a dark alleyway, something about it looked familiar to him. He could hear talking.

"What was that name you were going to mention earlier, hmm?" Someone asked.

No response.

"Girly, you need to answer me. Now."

He could hear the man choking her, choking the life out of Ariadne. She was trying to scream for help.

He couldn't move, it was as if he were superglued to the pavement.

"Ariadne!" He yelled, struggling with himself.

He watched as she struggled, cried, and died.

Arthur shot up in bed, breathing hard. It had only been a dream. He really had saved her that night. She wasn't dead. He had to remind himself of this a few times, and threw his dice a few times as well. He laid back down on the bed and took in a few deep breaths. It was the first time he had dreamed in almost four years.

* * *

Yay! Another chapter. Sorry this is taking me sooooo long to update. Finals are this week and things are getting crazy! But it's almost over. I had three today, and just one more to go! Leave a review please and thank you!


	8. Chapter 8

Okay...so you might all just kill me...and I deserve it! I think the last time I updated this story was probably, what? A year ago or something? Ya, I'm horrible. So here's the LAST CHAPTER! It's ridiculously long because there wasn't really a great spot to cut it into two different ones. I'm sorry it took so dang long to give you the LAST CHAPTER! Hahaha I'm a jerk. But here you go! No flames please.

**Chapter Eight**

Ariadne stared at the cell phone that Mr. Harris had set on the end table. They had finished the dream a few hours earlier, and she had shown them everything she knew that could impress them. From the Penrose staircases, to mazes that would take a year to get through in the dream world. Apparently they liked it, because she hadn't had to suffer the effects of a gunshot wound that time around. She thought of Arthur, of Cobb, of Eames, and Yusuf. She had no idea what they were doing, but she knew they would pull it all off. She could trust them with her life, and that's just what she was doing.

She continued to stare at the phone. She wanted it to ring, she wanted Arthur's voice to be on the other line, telling her it would all be okay, to reaffirm her trust in them. She had no clue what time it was, but she knew it was late. Or early. One of the two, since it was dark outside. Some time later, she heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Time to go, little lady." The man that had almost choked her to death in the alleyway said.

She didn't say anything, but continued to stare at the phone. "The boss said you did very well today." He was talking to her as though he were speaking to a child. "He's going to give you a reward for being so good."

She wanted to spit in his face.

"Now, be a good girl a little longer, and we'll have you out of here in no time."

She spit in his face.

She felt his hand smack against her head, taking her mind back to that dark night in the alley. She looked back at him, glaring.

He didn't say anything, but wiped the spit off with a scowl and walked away. He came back with another man and some scissors. Some time later, they had clipped her from the chair, but kept her hands tied together, and rope bound around her middle, keeping her arms to her sides.

They led her down in the elevator and back out to the van. They threw her in the back and made their way to the airport. She had no clue what to expect when they got there.

They boarded a private jet, one of them threw their coat over her shoulders and brought him closer to her, hiding the bonds around her in case they were caught on camera. They boarded and took off without mishap. Well, according to them. She wished there had been something to tip them off to get security over to the plane as fast as she could say, "Extraction!" but luck was not on her side this week.

They forced her down into a comfy chair across from Mr. Harris, who smiled at her. "I trust you enjoyed the ride to the airport."

"It was completely intoxicating." Ariadne said dryly.

"Just what I wanted to hear." Harris said, looking her over. She was worn out, with bags under her eyes, chapped lips, and unkept hair. Her hands were tied in front of her, and the rope was wound around her abdomen and arms. He smiled at her discomfort and began to eat the lunch that the stewardess had brought him.

She eyed his food hungrily, and hoped her stomach wouldn't growl, she didn't want to show any sign of weakness, even though she had cried the night before when she had talked to Arthur. She cringed at the thought. He probably thought she was a baby. She leaned back in the chair and thought of Arthur, about what he was doing, where they were. He had heard them talking to Cobb on the phone. She hadn't thought that Cobb would leave his family to come help her, she hadn't realized how close the team really was until now.

She looked up to see Harris eyeing her. She shivered and cringed inwardly. He was such a terrible person, and she wanted nothing to do with this man. She glanced around her, looking for an opportunity to escape.

"You're not going anywhere." He said, reading her mind.

She looked at him with a cool gaze, "It's not like I can go very far. We've already taken off. Where are we going, anyway?" She asked, trying to divert his attention from other things.

"We are going to San Antonio, Texas. I will be there on business, and your team will be following close behind, I'm sure." He said.

"But you have no intention of letting me see them, do you?" She asked bluntly.

"No, no. I don't think they'll see you at all, really." He said, taking a bite out of his chicken.

"What do you mean?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

He wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and smiled, "Now that I've seen what you can do, I think I'll have you work for me instead. You probably won't see your team again. Next time you talk to them, tell your husband Arthur and the rest of your team goodbye." He said in a mocking tone.

Her mouth fell open in shock, "But that wasn't the deal. They won't do the extraction unless they get me back. And you can't force me to work for you, I won't do it." She protested.

"Oh, I have my ways." He said, running a finger along the edge of the table.

"I don't think so. There's nothing you could do to change my mind." She said, holding her head high.

"I think you might change your mind if your dear Arthur were involved, don't you think?" He asked quietly.

"What are you saying?" She asked.

"I'm saying, that if you don't do as we wish, we'll kidnap him, torture him, kill him-in more ways than one, mind you, anything that will make you want to work for us." He said with a creepy smile.

She knew what Arthur would say, "They won't catch me. Don't give in." She swallowed hard, thinking.

"Maybe." She said.

"Ah, well, that's better than no. We'll hold off on taking your husband, after all, I've heard he's the best Point Man there is these days, and I need him to perform that Extraction successfully." He tapped his fingers on the table and stared off into space. "Although, this is the first I've heard that he was married. Was it recent?" He asked her suspiciously.

"Yes." She said without a beat. She had to be sure of what she was saying, so as not to make him think she was lying. This could be a factor that could save her, she didn't know how, but she hoped it could.

"I fancy married women, it's fun when they play hard to get." He mused.

Scratch that defense mechanism. It may not help her in the long run after all. She felt sick to her stomach when she realized what he was saying. "Well, I doubt they're _playing_ it. Maybe they really are married women that would like to stay faithful to their husbands." She said spitefully.

"Are you insinuating that I force myself on them?" He asked coyly.

"Maybe." She said, glaring at him.

"Ah, there's that 'maybe' again. I hope you don't throw that around like it's nothing. Then I might have to rethink your answer about taking your husband hostage." He said with an eyebrow raised.

She didn't say anything, but turned and stared out the window of the airplane, watching the clouds drift by them.

"So tell me, where did you get married?" He asked.

Ariadne still stared out the window, not wanting to answer him. What could she say? What if he knew of Arthur's whereabouts and she gave Harris a timeframe that didn't match up? She searched her brain for a good answer. She had no idea what Arthur had been doing between the Inception job and this one, and there was hardly any time when the job first started to run off and get married. Thankfully, just as she was about to open her mouth and tell him to 'Go to Hell' the stewardess stopped by, glancing in her direction with sad eyes. The woman wasn't stupid, she knew Ariadne was Harris's latest kidnap victim.

"Sir, we'll be in Texas in two hours. Is there anything else I can get you?" The stewardess asked.

"No, thank you. I am just fine." He stared at the woman sitting across from him. He leaned back in his chair and looked at her expectantly. "I'm still waiting for your answer, but if you'd rather not talk to me, I guess I'll just have to wait. I am patient, whether you want to believe it or not." He paused for a moment, just enough for her to start talking, but when she didn't, he spoke up again, "I think we'll call a raincheck on this conversation, then."

Arthur entered the airport for the second time in two days and sat down near the terminal where his plane would be. He glanced around him, shifting in his seat. He could see the others all sitting spread out around the same terminal. Yusuf in one corner, Eames in another, Cobb sitting in the middle of the waiting area, and Arthur sat across the walkway at a table. Anxiety was building up in his system like a parasite. He hadn't slept well at all the night before, thanks to those nightmares.

They finally boarded the plane, and as Arthur sat down a woman tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you mind trading a seat with me? I don't like sitting next to the aisle."

Arthur turned to look at where she was pointing. She pointed to the seat right next to Eames. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, he'd rather sit next to a terrorist than next to Eames for a whole plane ride. But how could he say no?

"Of course. I'd love to." He said kindly, taking his bag and walking down the aisle and sitting next to Eames.

"You know, I thought you knew the rules." Eames said quietly.

"I do. To the very last detail." The Point Man muttered.

"Well, I'm surprised to see you sitting next to me, then." Eames retorted.

"She asked to trade, I couldn't say no." Arthur hissed.

"Of course you can't, you're a bloody gentleman." Arthur smirked and shook his head.

Eames interrogated Arthur almost the entire plane ride to Texas. "You know he won't give her up without a fight." He commented.

"I know." Arthur said.

"And you must know that one of us could easily be killed. Including her." He said.

"I know." He said again, with more emphasis.

"Or you. Which, I really wouldn't be all that depressed about, honestly." Eames mused.

"I know." Arthur stated again.

"I'd really rather have Ariadne live, because then, if you're out of the picture, I could have her all to myself. It really saves me the trouble of winning over her affections the hard way." He said with a smile.

"I-what?" Arthur asked, perplexed.

"Oh come off it, you know she likes you." Eames said.

"No, I-"

"Please don't argue with me. She's got a thing for you, and you know it." Eames pointed at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Arthur said, turning and facing the chair in front of him.

"She adores you, she stares at you every minute she can, probably trying to figure you out. I don't know what there is to figure out though, you're a boring stick-in-the-mud. Who could like you? Only Ariadne, really. She's too unique for her own good." Eames said with raised eyebrows, glancing at Arthur, trying to gauge his reaction.

Nothing.

"She really does like you, Arthur, and I can tell by the way you talk to her that you reciprocate the feelings. Don't lose her." Eames said seriously, causing the Point Man to look at him. Arthur's lips quirked up in a half smile, but it disappeared quickly as he thought of Ariadne, and what she could be going through right at that moment.

Their plane finally landed, and they all took separate rides to The Crescent Hotel, hoping that no one would suspect a thing. Arthur couldn't help but think that Ariadne was there, in that hotel, probably thinking the same thing. He glanced up at the building, and all the windows to the hundreds of rooms in the hotel, his heart sinking. There was no way he could find out what room she was in without raising some suspicion. Cobb had told everyone, including Saito, to meet in his room. Room 412. He got his key from the front desk and made his way up to his room, 425. He didn't even bother to unpack his things, knowing that they would be leaving as soon as the Extraction (really Inception) was over. They were to get it done tomorrow evening, as soon as Mr. Harris's business meeting was over. Cobb had already called and told Mr. Larsen the plan, who then relayed it to Harris.

Arthur glanced down at his watch and realized the meeting would begin in four minutes. He opened his door, making sure he had both his totem, and his key card, then made his way down the hall and knocked twice on Cobb's door.

Cobb opened the door to let the Point Man inside. Everyone was there, including Saito, who looked a tad tired from traveling all night to get there. "All right, everyone's here. The plan, is to ambush Harris right after his business meeting. We need to do it in the public restroom right next to the elevator on the conference floor, which is only two above ours." He pointed up at the ceiling.

"Why?" Saito piped up.

"Because there aren't security cameras in the bathrooms. If they don't see us attack him, when we drag him out and into the elevator, we could say he had fainted, or passed out. Which means that only two of us should be in the bathroom. It would be odd to see a group of men coming out with Harris unconscious. Eames and I will be the two to ambush him."

He paused, glancing at Arthur. Cobb had asked him earlier that morning to help Eames with the ambush, but Arthur had bluntly said no.

"Why?" Cobb had asked.

"Because I might _accidentally_ kill him." Arthur had retorted, thinking of the pain Harris had inflicted on Ariadne.

Cobb had nodded with an indignant look and said nothing further.

Now, Arthur was still glad he had forced Cobb to take that position. He definitely would have _accidentally_ killed Harris.

"Saito and Yusuf will be going with Arthur to Harris's room with the case containing the machine, after he takes down any guards that are in the way. Hopefully this can be done discreetly." Cobb said, emphasizing the last word and looking at the Point Man.

Arthur nodded, "Of course."

Everyone, except Saito, knew there would be two guards, one guarding the hallway, and the other guarding the room. They would put up a good fight, enough to make it look real, but would refrain from killing anyone. They'd go down with a solid thump and then Arthur and the rest of the boys would wait for Cobb and Eames to arrive with Harris.

"After we get to Harris's room with him, we'll hook up to the machine and start the dream. Eames will be guarding the room." Cobb said.

Saito frowned, "I thought it would be more likely that Arthur guard outside the dream."

Cobb turned sharply to Arthur for an answer, "Yes, that would seem wise, but I am the one who has done the most research on Mr. Harris. Having me in the dream with you would be more beneficial." Arthur stated without hesitancy.

Saito nodded in agreement, "Oh yes, yes. Continue."

Cobb took a quick breath and continued, "Once we're finished in the dream, we just need to make sure that he's comfortable on the bed and that we give him no reason to think that anything happened."

Saito nodded, "And when do we do this?"

"When his meeting ends at 5:00 tomorrow evening." Cobb said.

"How do we know he'll go to the bathroom?" Saito asked.

Eames smiled, "Because who can really sit in a conference room for almost four hours and not have to go to the bathroom afterward?"

The next day, Ariadne sat, once more, tied to a chair. She looked out the window and could tell by the angle of the sun that it was at least somewhere between three and four o'clock. Although Mr. Harris was in a completely different room on a different floor from them, she had heard Mr. Larsen say that he had left for a business meeting three hours ago. She glanced around the room, noticing Larsen sitting at the table in the small kitchen, the man that had almost strangled her sat on the couch, and a security man stood in front of the door. Larsen turned in her direction, "We're going to disappear in about an hour."

Ariadne sighed, "Good, I don't want to look at you anymore."

"Oh no, no, when I said 'We' I also meant you." He smiled and pointed at the guy sitting on the couch. "Anderson here is going to take you in the van with him."

"What? That wasn't part of the deal." She said, trying to quell her panic.

"We know, but Mr. Harris really needs an Architect of his own, and you're the best there is right now, besides Cobb. But he's damaged goods. His brain doesn't function nearly as well since his wife died."

"I'm not going anywhere." Ariadne said firmly.

His lips pulled up in a ghastly smile. "It doesn't matter what you say or what you do, you're getting out of Texas whether you like it or not."

Cobb and Eames stood in the doorway near the conference room. "Are we really going to hit this bloke over the head? Because if you don't want to, I sure will." Eames said quietly.

"Eames, it's all a fake. But we still have to make it look real, in case Saito questions anything." Cobb said with a stern face. "I'll hit him." He added.

Right on cue, Mr. Harris headed for the bathroom. Cobb went in, followed by Eames just a little after.

"Ah, there you are. I thought you might already be-" He was cut off when Cobb's fist came in contact with his face.

"What the hell?" Harris yelled, Eames chuckled.

"We need to make it look real. No-don't wipe your nose. Let the blood run. You want this to work? Play your part." Cobb knocked him off his feet, sending Harris to the floor. He let out a groan.

"Now play dead little doggy." Eames growled and grabbed one of his arms and a leg while Cobb did the same.

"Oh dear heavens! What happened?" A man asked as he came in.

Cobb looked up in surprise, "He fell and hit his face on the sink. We know where his room is, so we'll take him upstairs to his security to deal with." He explained with a heave. "Would you mind opening the door for us?"

"No, no. Not at all. Here." He propped open the door for the three men and tried to keep away from them. Blood obviously didn't bode well with the man. They turned the corner swiftly and got into the elevator.

Arthur stood on the sixth floor, where Harris's room was and glanced at his watch. It was five after five o'clock. Time for him to take down a few guards. He turned the corner and ran at the first man, hitting him in the jugular and then cracking a few ribs. The security man groaned and rolled to the floor. Arthur gave him a quick kick that left him unconscious and moved to the door.

He knocked.

Waited a minute.

Knocked again.

Finally, the second body guard opened the door and pointed a gun in Arthur's face.

"Ah, ah, no killing, sir." Arthur tisked as he thrust his hand up under the man's elbow and forced it up, it cracked twice when he grabbed the man's hand and pulled down the other way. He kneed him in the stomach, and punched his temple, leaving him unconscious. The bodyguard slipped to the floor with a thump.

Saito and Yusuf peeked around the corner.

"Wow, Arthur. I've never seen you in action before." Yusuf said with wide eyes.

"Hopefully you won't have to see much of it again." He said with a grunt as he heaved the men's bodies into the room. He didn't want a maid to come by and scream, "Murderer!" In the hotel. He pushed them into a closet and closed the door, and propped a chair under the handle. The more time it took for them to get out, the better.

"Did you see any sign of Cobb?" Arthur asked Saito.

"No, I did not-" Just then, there was a faint knock at the door.

Arthur looked through the peep hole and saw a Cobb and Eames carrying a mass that was sure to be Harris. He opened the door and let them in, closing it quickly and locking it behind them.

They threw him on the bed, and Harris let out a low moan. "Who bashed him in the nose?" Yusuf asked. "I thought he was supposed to think nothing happened when he woke up!" He exclaimed.

"Ya...well, he deserved it." Eames said. "We'll clean him up, don't get too antsy. We'll put a bottle of liquor next to him for when he wakes. He'll think he did it himself, somehow."

Arthur grabbed the silver case that held the PASIV from Yusuf and opened it on the floor, setting it up. "All right, Eames, make sure no one gets through that door. Wake me up if something goes amiss, Cobb will need to stay in the dream to uphold the architecture in the dream world."

Eames nodded and pulled out his gun. He glanced around the room, checking the windows and other points of entry as everyone (besides Eames and Yusuf) got ready to go into the dream. Eames watched as Saito sighed and slipped into unconsciousness. He laid down on the floor and grabbed the line that was supposed to be for Mr. Harris, and slipped it into his own wrist.

Harris sat up and watched Eames go under, then glanced up at Yusuf. "I don't appreciate them hitting me in the face." He said, smacking his lips together and tasting blood. His hand reached up to wipe his face clean of the blood, but Yusuf stopped him.

"You need to remain the way Saito last saw you if you want this to work out."

Harris rolled his eyes and lay back down on the bed. "So how long do I have to wait here before they wake up again?"

Yusuf calculated it in his head, "You should only be waiting for about fifteen minutes. It should give them plenty of time."

In the dream world, Arthur stood next to Cobb with Saito near them. "All right, where to?" Arthur turned to Cobb.

"We need to go to the bank, I set it up just like the one he visits often. He has various accounts, and even has his own vault, hidden in the recesses of the building." Cobb said looking around them. They were on a street corner, with buildings and cars all around them. Pedestrians walked around and bumped into them.

"I thought his mind would be more well protected than this." Saito said, motioning to the people around him.

"I'm sure it is, we just haven't given any reason for his subconscious to be worried yet." Cobb murmured. They crossed the street and headed for a building three blocks away.

"Are we going to see Mr. Harris at all?" Saito asked.

"Probably, but we don't want to alert our presence to him."

"You can extract something without asking him where his vault is?" Saito asked.

"I've studied him, for quite some time now. If that vault is anywhere, it's in the bank. If we do run into him, and his subconscious becomes suspicious, Cobb can play as Mr. Charles." Arthur supplied.

"Ah...Mr. Charles. I remember that. Are you sure he won't see through your ruse?" Saito was skeptical.

"I guess we'll just have to see and find out." Cobb said as they crossed another street.

Eames sat in the bank, knowing already where the rest of the team was. He looked exactly like Mr. Harris. He walked up to the counter and started talking to his own subconscious. "How do you like it here?" He asked himself.

"Oh, the colonies are stuck up and ill-mannered. But the people here are quite...attractive." Eames chuckled. Spoken like his true self. Which...was true. He smiled and talked to the woman behind the counter a bit longer. He glanced to his right, sneaking a peek out the window and seeing the team heading for the bank. Right on schedule. He asked to see his account balance, smiling at the pretty lady helping him.

Cobb and Arthur entered the bank, followed by Saito.

"He's here." Cobb hissed to Arthur and Saito. "We need to follow him."

Cobb walked up to the counter and talked with another woman, asking if he could go back to his own vault and take something from it. The woman nodded and asked for his pin number and account information. He gave a random set of numbers to her, and she punched them into her computer. Things were going according to plan. He motioned for Arthur and Saito to follow him and the man that told him he would be their guide.

Cobb watched as Eames/Harris headed down a different hallway than the way they were being lead. He mouthed to Arthur, "Follow him."

Arthur and Saito split off and headed after Harris. He turned the corner to see a security guard walking away from him, heading down the hallway. He took a silencer from his pocket and screwed it on the end of his gun, turned the corner, and shot the man in the back. There was a soft thud as his body hit the ground. He leapt up and dragged the man out of the hallway, into a closet. Cobb had lined the whole place with random doors that lead to no where, for situations just like this. After taking out a few other guards, they finally caught up to Harris. 'Eames.' Arthur had to remind himself. He took a deep breath and glanced behind him, making sure Saito was still there.

"When the escort turns, I'll take him out and make for Harris. Once I have him contained, you'll get into his vault and pull out whatever information that's in there." Arthur whispered, his voice barely audible.

Saito nodded in response.

While Arthur had Saito's attention, Eames opened the safe and slipped in the information that they needed Saito to read, taking out his own personal secrets and stuffing them in his pocket. The man that had escorted him to the Safe collapsed as Arthur shot him in the back. He felt himself slam up against a wall, his head hitting it painfully. He had to remind himself not to swear like an Englishman, and swear like an American.

"What's going on?" He bellowed, playing the part. "Security!"

Arthur pointed the gun to his head. "Don't say another word. Saito, hurry. Read it!" Arthur called, never taking his eyes off Harris. 'Eames.' He reminded himself again.

Saito threw the Safe door open the rest of the way and pulled out the papers and started reading. Eames watched as Saito's face turned from anger, to surprise, to disbelief, and then finally...relief. They had done it. He believed it.

Arthur turned in Saito's direction, "Well?" He asked.

"He's innocent." He said, holding the papers up.

"Of course I am!" The fake Harris yelled.

"We're done Saito." Arthur said, taking the gun from Harris's head and pointing it to himself. He pressed the trigger.

Eames watched as Arthur's body fell limp to the floor, he leaned over and grabbed the gun shooting Saito in the head and then pointing it on himself.

Arthur's eyes shot open. He jumped up and grabbed the needle from Eames's arm, yanking it out and throwing it away, then grabbed a new one from Yusuf and applied it to the same line and inserting it into the real Harris's arm. Harris was still lying on the bed. "About time." He mouthed and closed his eyes. Arthur wanted to punch him, but practiced his impeccable self restraint and refrained from doing so. He watched as Saito struggled to open his eyes.

Arthur grabbed Eames's arm and forced him up, grabbing his gun from the floor and forcing it into the Forger's hand, pushing him toward the door. He had to look like the security man that he had been before they went under.

Saito finally opened his eyes and glanced around. Arthur put a finger to his mouth in a "Shush" gesture, motioning Saito to get up and go to the door with Eames. He did so without asking any questions and left the room with the Forger. Arthur packed up the device with the help of Cobb and Yusuf and then left the room, closing the door behind him.

"What about the guards you stuffed in the closet?" Saito asked Arthur.

"Took care of them while you were out." Eames winked.

They took the stairs down to the fifth floor and Cobb opened his door, waving them all inside. "All right, so what did you find out, Saito?" He asked.

"He's innocent. At first I found it hard to believe, but it makes sense when I really start to piece it together..." He trailed off, still deep in thought.

Cobb's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I thought for sure he was guilty."

Saito nodded, "I was so sure, as you were, but that...that information was genuine. I will not doubt the man again." He shook his head, as if berating himself.

Cobb felt his insides twist. If only he knew.

Saito shook hands and said his goodbyes with the team. They watched him get into his taxi and take off toward the airport.

"Back to Harris's room?" Eames asked, opening the door. Arthur practically ran out the door and up the stairs to the room they had just infiltrated, the rest of the team following after him. He threw open the door to find Larsen with his back to Arthur, staring out the window.

"Come for your wife?" Larsen asked like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Where is Ariadne?" He demanded.

"To be honest, I'm not exactly positive where she is."

While Arthur had been taking down two security guards, Ariadne was being hauled out of the room they were in by Anderson, and taken to the van. Being gagged, she hadn't been able to scream, but she kicked and flailed as much as she possibly could. The result being that Anderson now had a crooked nose and future bruises all over his back and chest.

Anderson approached the van, unlocking it and opening the two back doors. He threw Ariadne into the back and slammed the doors shut. Slinging the girl over his shoulder had really given him a beating. "Maybe we should have knocked her out before getting her down here." Anderson said as he watched Mr. Harris step out of the stairwell and into the parking garage.

"Oh I'd like to talk to her a bit once we're on the road." He said with a sly smile and slipped into the passenger seat, while Anderson started the car. Ariadne sat in the back of the van with her hands tied in front of her, as well as a rope wound around her middle, pinning her arms to her sides, and a rope tied tightly around her ankles. It wasn't all that smart on their part. When they weren't looking, she picked at the rope around her ankles, trying to get the knot undone.

"Now, we're going to take a little trip to Mexico, stay there a few days, get you broken in, and then we can start on a little Inception project." Harris smiled at Ariadne.

Her face twisted into a grimace, she knew that once she got past the border, there would be less chance of the Team finding her. She had to get out of this van before getting anywhere near the border. Her mind raced with a ideas, all of which were not pretty. Kicking the back doors open, tumbling out...every time she thought of that, she imagined herself getting steamrolled to the pavement by whatever car or truck was behind them. She imagined knocking both men out and throwing _them_out of the car, but having both hands tied together, that would be quite a difficult task. She stared at the wall of the van with concentration, she saw Harris leave his seat in the front and make his way to the back. She glanced up at him, her heart beating a little faster.

"You know, I think we'd make a pretty good pair." He said quietly, tilting her chin up. With her mouth taped shut, there wasn't much she could do but yank her head away from his hand. He frowned for a moment.

"I know being faithful to your husband would be considered romantic, but think of it more as...a break from being tied to one person."

How ironic. The bonds of marriage versus the ropes tied around her and being stuck in the back of a van with a creepy man. She definitely thought being married to Arthur was at least a hundred times better than the situation she was in right now. Although, she wasn't _really_ married to Arthur...before she could think about what it would be like to be married to the Point Man, Harris leaned forward and ripped the tape off, and pulled the cloth from her mouth. Ariadne gasped from the quick sting, then took a deep breath as it started to tingle.

"Boss, we're heading into a storm. You might want to-"

"I don't care, Anderson. Unless something other than the weather is threatening us, don't tell me." Harris growled. He turned back and stared at Ariadne. "So tell me, how did you and your dear Arthur meet?"

She knew the best way not to mess it up was to keep her mouth closed.

"Let me guess, he's an amazing Point Man, working with Cobb, and they needed a new Architect, because what's-his-face messed up, big time-yes, I heard about that fiasco. Cobb goes to his father-in-law, Miles, who then directs him to you. Am I correct so far?" He asked.

Ariadne said nothing.

"Hmmm...interesting. Anyway, you meet Arthur, you do your little Inception business, yes, I know about that too. When Saito used to trust me, he told me the plan so I wouldn't be too surprised when young Fischer broke up his father's empire. As long as it went according to plan, that is." He smiled for a moment, "I'm sure during the Inception you and Arthur became quite close, am I wrong?"

She looked away from him and stared at her shoe.

"Then after Inception, you dated for...let's say...one month? Officially, that is. And then you get married. Really, that seems a little quick, don't you think?" He asked, a small smile making its way on to his face.

"So unless the two of you really were madly in love with each other and felt as though you might as well get married because you had nothing to lose, I think it's a bluff." He summed up.

Ariadne stared at the wall, trying to keep her face as passive as possible. She didn't know why it was such a big deal, but she felt like the less he knew about her, the better.

"Which means...you're not really tied to anyone...which also means..." He leaned forward, his thumb brushing her cheek and running his fingers through her hair. She had to suppress the urge to gag. He leaned closer to Ariadne, her eyes growing wide.

"Don't touch me." She said venomously and brought up her legs and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backward and hitting the opposite wall of the van.

He rubbed his head and looked up at her, anger was the prevalent feature displayed on his face. He shot forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her face toward his.

His lips smashed to hers, and after a few painful seconds of being manhandled, Ariadne was able to push him away. She panted from the effort and brought her hands up, hoping to punch him with both of her fists if he tried anything again.

Harris opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, a shot rang out and one of the windows shattered, sending glass shards and rain all over Ariadne and Harris.

Twenty minutes earlier.

"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" Arthur yelled, grabbing Larsen by the collar and shoving him up against the wall.

"Well, this feels like De-ja-vu." He mused, smiling a little at Arthur.

Arthur brought his fist back to punch Larsen, but felt a hand grasp his arm before he could swing forward. "Step away for a moment, darling, would you?" Eames asked.

Arthur's mouth opened in protest, but before he could say anything, Eames sent his own fist flying, popping Larsen in the jaw, the force pushing him backward. Eames grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him upward and into a chair. "You will tell us where Ariadne is, or Arthur here, will put a bullet through your body."

Arthur cocked his gun and pointed it at Larsen's leg. "I don't know anything." Larsen said, his voice low. He heard a click as Arthur readied the gun to shoot.

"No, no! Please, I swear. I don't know. I don't-" A shot rang out and Larsen doubled over in pain, grasping his leg.

"Bloody hell! Give me a fair warning before you shoot that thing, nearly jumped right out of my knickers." Eames slapped Arthur's shoulder, trying to shout above Larsen's cries.

"Where is she?" Arthur yelled, ignoring Eames.

"A van! There's a van, down in the parking garage. They're going to take her past the border to Mexico. An armored vehicle is meeting them half way to hide Ariadne in their car. Border patrol won't think to check if they believe it's one of their own." He gasped in pain.

"When did they leave?" Cobb spoke up, anger and worry present in his voice.

"Only five minutes ago...five minutes." He said, sweat dripping down his face.

"Yusuf, pack everyone's stuff up and head out. Get back to our original location. We'll meet you there tomorrow." Cobb said, a hand on Yusuf's shoulder. Yusuf nodded and made for the door.

"Eames, Arthur. We need to go."

Eames looked at Larsen for a moment. "What do we do about him?" He asked, pointing at him.

"Leave him. I don't care." Arthur said as he walked out the door.

They got into Cobb's rental car, Arthur in the front, with Eames in the back. They pulled out of the hotel and...traffic was horrifying.

"Hang on. I'm going to break a few laws." Cobb said as he drove up over the median in the middle of the road and driving against traffic. Eames and Arthur held on for dear life as he swerved away from oncoming cars. He turned off the road, cut through a parking lot and within a few short stops and a couple cusses, they were on the freeway, heading south.

"Well, you don't see that every day." Eames drawled, "Are we really still alive?"

They weaved their way through traffic on the freeway, speeding and braking and speeding some more. After a little while the traffic was getting less dense, the sun was starting its descent in the sky, and there was a massive storm cloud heading their way.

"Oh this is going to get just lovely." Sarcasm dripping from Eames's tongue.

The storm hit them with a massive wind gust and wall of rain. "It's going to be bloody difficult to shoot anything in this." Eames muttered

"Just don't shoot Ariadne." Arthur said, getting his gun out.

"Ya, I figured that much." Eames said, also getting his gun from where it was tucked into his pants at the small of his back.

"He said it was a white van, probably an industrial one with the two doors in the back." Cobb said, swerving to avoid debris in the road.

"There!" Arthur called, pointing. He rolled down his window. They were now on a two lane highway, with hardly any other vehicles in sight. "Cobb, pull up closer!" He yelled, the front of him getting drenched as he pulled himself closer to the window.

"I'm trying!" Cobb yelled through the storm. Eames had rolled his window down as well, practically leaning out of it. He took the first shot and heard a window shatter as well as a scream.

It took a moment for Ariadne to realize that she was the one screaming.

"Shut up!" She heard Harris yell.

"Help!" She screamed. She knew it was them. It had to be. Who else would shoot out a window of an industrial van on a highway headed to no where?

"Arthur!" She yelled. A hand clamped down over her mouth, and she bit it.

"AH! You bi-" She whacked him in the face, and punched the side of his head. He hit the floor of the van and shook his head, blood flowing from his nose. He pounced on her, grabbing her neck and forcing her to the floor of the van.

She had already been in this position before, she was not about to let herself go through it again. She brought her legs up and kicked him off of her, pelting him with her feet. She heard him cry out in pain as she sat up and untied the rest of the rope around her ankles. She stood hunched over on shaky legs and made for the back of the van. She heard him groan and glanced over at him.

His eyes widened when he realized what she was trying to do. She fumbled for the lock, trying to open the doors. He grabbed her around the middle and pulled her back just as she unlocked it. She kicked her feet out, hoping one of them would open. Ariadne fell to the floor with a thump, Harris underneath her back. He had a strong hold around her, but he wasn't in the best position to keep her down. She thrust her elbow against him as hard as she could. She could hear him gasp and loosen his hold on her. She rolled away from him and kicked at the door, throwing her weight against it. Finally, the door budged, opening slightly. Just as she brought her leg up to kick again, the van lurched to the right, sending her tumbling against the wall. The door swung open, and rain poured in on them.

"Boss! We've got a serious problem!" Anderson yelled.

"You think I don't know that?" Harris yelled back, tackling Ariadne before she could get out of the van.

Arthur watched as the door to the back of the van bulged a little. "Cobb, put some distance between us and the van!" Arthur yelled. There were shots going back and forth. Eames shooting at the driver's window.

"What? Arthur, I can't see the driver's side from that far away!" Eames yelled.

"Just trust me!" They watched as the doors swung open, and Harris threw Ariadne to the floor, the van bouncing a little.

"She's probably going to slide out. Drive between the two lanes." Arthur instructed to Cobb.

"What are you planning, Arthur?" Cobb asked incredulously.

"Just do it!" Arthur yelled, his eyes never leaving Ariadne. They watched as she wrestled with Harris, finally dislodging him and rolling away. They had put about thirty feet between them and the van.

"Get ready Cobb..." Arthur said, tucking his gun away, his hand hovered over the handle of the door.

Arthur opened his door and rolled out of the car just as Ariadne tumbled out of the van. It was exhilarating, and very painful, when Arthur looked back on it. He rolled for what seemed like forever, but finally came to a stop and getting up without hesitating, running forward to where he saw a small mass in the middle of the road.

He leaned over her, smoothing back the hair from her face. Rain poured down on them. "Ari?" He asked quietly.

"Arthur..." She said, relief flooding through her veins. She didn't care how badly she hurt in that moment. All she wanted, was to hear his voice, to be with him, to know she would be safe.

He helped her sit up, and she leaned against him. "Worst few days of my life." She said, a humorless chuckle escaping her lips. He leaned back to look at her. Her eyes grew wide and her lip trembled, "I thought I would never see you, or anyone else ever again." She choked back a sob, thankful that the rain masked her tears.

Arthur snaked his arm under her knees and hugged her shoulders to him, picking her up off the cold, wet ground and moving to the side of the road where they wouldn't get hit by an unsuspecting car. He set her down gently, sitting right next to her. She was almost in his lap. He held her close to him, never wanting to let go. She reached up to touch his face, to know he really was there, to know he was real.

He glanced down and realized her wrists and arms were still tied. "Here, sit still for a moment." He said quietly, pushing her to the ground and pulling out a pocket knife. He slowly cut through the ropes, careful not to accidently swipe her with it. "How does that feel?" He asked softly, running his fingers down the side of her face.

"Better." She said, glancing down at the pile of rope lying on the asphalt..

"Good." He gave her one of those almost-smiles.

She reached up and touched his face, her thumb brushing the corner of his lips. "I can hardly believe you're here...Am I dreaming?" She asked, frowning.

"No, no...we're not dreaming." He said, taking her hands in his and feeling the welts across her wrists. It drove him crazy to think that she had been held against her will, tortured, and forced to do things she never wanted to. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

Her eyebrows knit together. "What for?"

"I should have been more careful. I should have..." He trailed off for a moment, "I should have known that something like this could happen, especially after what they did in the alley back in Jersey."

"No, there was no way you could have known. I'm just glad you found me." She said, smiling a little. Arthur couldn't help but return it. Ariadne shivered from the rain and wind, leaning in to Arthur. He could tell she was exhausted and cold, so he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped her up in it and hugged her to him. She sighed in content, and although they were sitting on the side of a highway, in the dark, as well as in the pouring rain, she still felt safe.

Arthur glanced up when he heard screeching tires, watching as headlights came in to view. He wasn't sure if it was the van or Cobb, he couldn't tell. He and Ariadne stood up slowly.

"If that's Harris, I want you to turn and run. Understand?" Arthur asked, looking at her pointedly.

Ariadne nodded slowly. "But-"

"No. You've been through enough. I'm armed, you're not." He stepped in front of her, hoping to make her less noticeable if it was Harris coming their way.

Ariadne felt a bit perturbed by his display. She could handle herself, right? She felt her knees shaking in anxiety and nervousness and pondered it. Well...after everything that had happened, maybe she could be a little more grateful for the Point Man and his efforts to keep her safe. She stepped right up behind him, peeking around him, but before she could get a glimpse of the vehicle coming toward them, she heard a shout.

"Oh it's about time we got you back, eh love?" Ariadne couldn't help but smile. "How is our little architect holding up?" Eames asked loudly. He had moved to the front seat.

"Get in." Cobb said gruffly, unlocking the doors.

Arthur and Ariadne slid into the back of the car and shut the door. Eames turned in his seat to look at her. "Blimey, you look quite banged up, my dear. You all right?" He asked, concern glinting in his eyes.

Ariadne smiled at the affection, "I think I'll be okay."

"Good. We need you all in one piece, darling." He smiled and reached over, patting her knee.

Arthur looked at Eames, then to Cobb. "So...what happened?" He asked.

"Well, I shot the head off of the guy driving the thing, and then Cobb rammed the van-"

"You owe me for the damages I'll have to pay on this car, Arthur." Cobb cut in, a hint of joking in his tone.

"-and it rolled! The van rolled off the highway into a ditch. I didn't think this little civic could do it, but it sure did." He paused for a second and glanced back at Arthur, "I hope he's still alive, the damn businessman. I really want to see him rot in jail, wasting his life away, maybe go insane..."

"I'm pretty sure he's still alive." Cobb said quietly.

Ariadne decided not to think about it too much, it stressed her out thinking that man was still on the loose, but he was a CEO of a major corporation, and if he went missing, questions would be asked that she didn't want people to try to answer.

"You okay?" Arthur asked quietly, his right hand covering her left. He glanced down when he felt something other than her hand against his skin. He lifted it to see that she was still wearing the wedding ring he had given her. "You're still wearing it?"

She looked down, not exactly sure of what to say. "Yes. For some reason I thought it might save me in some way. Maybe because every time I looked at it, I thought of you. That the team was still coming for me, that I wasn't forgotten." She said, staring at the ring on her finger.

She felt him tilt her chin up to look at him, "I would never forget you." He said softly. He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Ariadne buried her face in his chest, hoping he wouldn't notice that she was blushing. He wrapped his arms around her, leaning back against the seat and the door. Both were asleep within minutes.

The car trundled to a stop, giving one last groan before dying. They had just barely made it to the airport. Eames turned around, grinning at the sight of Ariadne heaped up against Arthur, his jacket swallowing her whole, while Arthur's arms were still wrapped around her, his head back against the door and the headrest. He almost didn't want to wake them, but they had a plane to catch. He leaned back and snapped his fingers in Arthur's face, waking him up. "I'll leave you to waking the lady." Eames said, getting out of the car.

Arthur looked down at Ariadne, a content expression on her face as she slept. His heart ached to wake her, but maybe they could take another nap together soon. He ran his fingers through her hair, "Ari..." he whispered, "it's time to wake up."

She stirred slightly, her eyes fluttering open. "Where are we?" She asked as she sat up, they were in a parking garage. Her heart stopped for just a moment before realizing she was with Arthur.

He could tell something had startled her when she had tensed. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's nothing...well, every time Harris took me somewhere we always ended up in a parking garage." She said, a far away look in her eyes.

Arthur closed his eyes, trying not to get too angry. He wanted to know everything that had happened to her, every detail. But if she wasn't ready to tell him, he'd wait. He could be patient for her. "What happened?" He asked.

There was a tap at the window as she opened her mouth to speak. "I'll tell you when we get back home." She said, sliding over to the other side of the car and opening the door. Arthur sighed, running a hand down his face and getting out.

"Where's all your stuff?" Ariadne asked.

"Yusuf took it all back with him. Or at least, that was the plan." Cobb said, leaving the car in the parking garage. He'd let the rental agency find it and bill him later.

They boarded their plane, and after a few hours of flying, they were back in New Jersey, heading for the old apartment. Eames trudged up the stairs, it was now four in the early morning. He knocked on Yusuf's door and leaned against the wall, watching the others slowly making their way up the stairs. Yusuf opened the door with a yawn.

"Where's our stuff?" Eames asked, his voice sounded too loud in the stillness of the morning.

"Keep it down. It's in here." He waved them in.

They all left with their things, but Cobb lingered outside of Arthur and Ariadne's door.

"You coming in, Cobb?" Arthur asked.

"You know what, I think I'm going to head home." The corner of his lips quirked up, "I need to get home too."

After saying their goodbyes to Cobb, Arthur turned to the door with his key and opened the apartment, showing Ariadne in first. Nothing had changed from when they left. Everything was the same.

Ariadne breathed in the familiar air of where she had been living for the past while. It felt so good to be back. She went straight for the bathroom and took a quick shower, watching as the water turned a little red around her. She realized she had cuts and bruises all over her body, but was too tired to really do anything about it. She cut the water and got dressed in her sweats, towel dried her hair, and headed for the living room. She started to sit down on the couch when she felt a hand at the small of her back, guiding her elsewhere. Arthur led her back into the bathroom, lifting her up and setting her on the counter. She felt like she should be confused as to what he was doing, but was too tired to focus. He opened the cabinet behind her to the right and got out adhesive gauze, band-aids, ointments, and other first aid materials. She looked down at the towel on the tiled floor and realized that most of it was stained with blood.

Arthur followed her gaze and turned back to her. "I'm sorry." Was all he could really think of to say.

"Don't say that. It's not your fault." She said slowly, blinking away a few tears as he rubbed ointment into a cut on her forehead. He wiped her tears away with his thumb and bandaged it with some gauze.

"I'm not so sure about that." He retorted, he pushed the bottom of her sweats up from her ankles to her knees, his eyes narrowing at a rather large gash on her left calf.

She sighed, her shoulders drooping, "Well, I'm sure. I blame Harris. Not you, in any way, shape or form."

He heard her sharp intake of breath when he rubbed the ointment onto her shin and knee. Her hands gripped the edge of the counter and her knuckles turned white. He bandaged it quickly and grabbed a cup from the sink, filling it, and handed her an aspirin. "Here, this will help with the pain." She nodded and took it gratefully. After he was finished with a few other scrapes and cuts, one on her shoulder, another on her arm, he helped her off the counter and led her to the bedroom.

When she saw the bed, she realized how tired she really was. "Thank you, Arthur." She turned to him, a small smile on her face.

He nodded with a smile of his own. "I'll be in the living room." Arthur said, graciously shutting the door behind him.

She turned and looked at the bed again, but didn't think it looked as enticing as before. She knew she was tired, exhausted, really. She sat on the bed, but didn't attempt to get under the covers. Why? She narrowed her eyes at the pillows, willing the bed to tell her why she didn't want to sleep. The image of herself sleeping, curled up against the Point Man with his arms around her invaded her mind. That was why. She didn't want to be alone. She sat a little while longer, not bringing herself to get in the bed. Ariadne sleepily made her way into the living room to find Arthur asleep on the couch, his head on the armrest, one foot on the floor, the other propped up on the opposite armrest. One of his arms dangled over the side. Ariadne smiled at the sight, she couldn't help but notice how cute he looked. It was one of the only times she had seen him vulnerable in any way. She found herself walking closer to him, peering at him through half closed eyelids. She was so tired, but there wasn't another couch to sleep on, especially not one as comfortable as the one he was on.

She walked over to the window and closed the blinds, making the room darker, then made her way back over to the couch. He was closer to the edge than he was to the back pillows, so she decided she would squish herself between him and the couch. She could definitely live with that arrangement. Ariadne slowly, and carefully climbed over him and laid down next to him, laying her head on his chest, her arms tucked between her and him.

She laid there for just a moment before glancing up at him. He had that ridiculous half-smile on his face.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?" Arthur whispered.

"I didn't want to be alone." She said quietly.

Arthur frowned and turned on his side toward her, snaking his arms around her. "I'm sorry you went through what you did, and when you're ready to talk, I'm here to listen." He said, concern in his eyes.

She gave him an almost-smile of her own at his tenderness and nodded. "Thank you." She looked at her left hand, pressed up against his chest, the ring still on her finger, the diamond shone brilliantly in the low lighting. "Did you want the ring back?" She asked.

Arthur felt the wedding ring on his own finger and thought about the implications of her keeping the ring.

"No. Keep it." He kissed the top of her head, smelling her hair. It was still a bit damp from her shower. "Although, if you do wear it, people will think you're married." He chuckled a little.

"Yes, and when they ask me who my husband is, I'll tell them his name is Arthur." She said quietly, smiling.

He laughed a little, she could hear it rumble through his chest. "Is it okay that I use you as a scapegoat, so I can say no to any weirdo that asks me out?"

He laughed again, "You could say no even without a ring."

"I know." She said softly, tracing a circle on his chest.

He pulled away just enough to see her face, "You wear it whenever you want."

"What about you?" She asked, thinking of his ring.

"I'll probably wear mine as well." He said, locking eyes with her.

"We might as well just get married." Ariadne teased.

He leaned closer to her, pressing her against the couch. "Maybe we should..." He trailed off, smiling.

She was looking into his deep, endless brown eyes, then glanced down at his lips. That was all it took. Arthur leaned in, kissing her slowly. It was like fire on her lips, it was electrifying. Her hands had gathered fistfuls of his shirt, bringing him closer to her. He hugged her closer to him, feeling her melt against him.

They finally broke for air after a few moments, Ariadne's eyes drooping.

"Get some sleep. I'll be right here." He whispered, kissing her cheek. She fell asleep within minutes, Arthur following suit a little after.

It was in the early evening when they both woke. "How are you feeling?" Arthur asked.

"I'm okay." She said quietly.

"What happened?" He asked.

There was a long pause before she answered. They were still lying on the couch, his arms wrapped around her. "They cornered me, threw me in a van...took me to New York. I was bound and gagged, so I couldn't scream." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to think too hard about it. "They took me into the dream world a couple of times, tried to force me into showing them what I could do. I thought it would buy you guys more time if I didn't." She said slowly, glancing up at Arthur.

He had a frown on his face, but didn't say anything. "I wouldn't...and Harris shot me." She took in a shaky breath, about to begin again, but Arthur said something.

"Where?" He asked.

She opened her mouth, "My arm." She traced a spot on her left arm, just below her shoulder. Arthur didn't say anything, but covered the area she was tracing on her arm with his hand, he sighed, his thumb tracing circles on it. A shiver ran up Ariadne's body. "We came out of the dream, and they had me tied to a chair. I could hardly sleep, and they didn't feed me. I got water every now and then, though..." She paused, "Then we went back into the dream, and I refused to show them what I could do. Harris was even more angry than before, he shot me in the leg, just above my knee, then shot himself and left me there to finish out the dream..." She had a far away look in her eyes, remembering what had happened to her.

Arthur reached down, placing his hand just above her knee. "Here?" He asked quietly.

She nodded, a few tears slipping down her face. He brought his hand back up, wiping them from her cheeks. She continued with a deep breath, "When I woke up, he was on the phone with you...I was so happy to hear your voice, I wished I could have seen you. The next time they took me into a dream, I showed them everything you had taught me. They seemed impressed, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. I guess it wasn't so great, because Harris ended up wanting to use me for it." She paused for a moment before going on. She was still tracing circles on his chest with her finger.

"Not much happened when they had me in the hotel room, I was tied to a chair, as before, back in New York. They hauled me down to the van and threw me in. I was able to get my ankles mostly untied during the ride before you guys showed up. Harris came to the back of the van with me and tried..." She swallowed, "...tried to take advantage of me." She felt Arthur's grip tighten around her.

"What did he do?" He said, she could tell he was angry.

"He kissed me, right before the window shattered." She said quietly, she heard Arthur sigh, a hint of relief in his anger filled voice.

"He didn't do anything else?" He asked.

"Afterward, he tried to choke me, but I kicked him off and then fell out the back." She said simply, looking up at him.

Arthur propped himself up on an elbow, looking down at her. He noticed the bruising on her neck now, not having seen it before. He leaned down slowly, his lips brushing her collarbone. He heard her quick intake of breath and paused. She relaxed a little and he continued to leave a kiss everywhere he saw a bruise, kissing her jawline, and then up to the corner of her mouth. He brought his lips close to hers, hovering over her. "I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that...You don't need to." She whispered, closing the distance between them and kissing him. It was a tender, but passionate kiss, leaving her dazed and happy afterward. He got up off the couch after hearing her stomach growl.

"You probably haven't had a decent meal in a while. Let's get you something to eat." He said, grabbing a phone.

They ordered pizza delivery, not wanting to leave the apartment. Once the pizza arrived, Ariadne flipped the TV on and changed the channel to the News. She nearly spit out her drink.

"Arthur!"

He rushed over to her. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's Saito! And Harris!" Her eyes wide, she pointed at the TV. "We didn't tell Saito..."

Arthur's brow furrowed, "I'm sure Cobb told him about Harris..." He didn't sound completely sure.

They sat and listened to the broadcast, hoping against all odds that Cobb had called and talked to Saito. Ariadne noticed how put together Harris looked, although she could see a few scratches, and the fact that his arm was in a sling, he looked to be just fine. She wished she could go right through the TV screen and punch him. She watched as Saito got up to the microphone on the stage.

"It is with best interests at heart that I address you all today. Mr. Harris and I came to the agreement a few months ago that merging our companies would be beneficial to the business world. I realized that this could be a great success. It is with regret, though, that it has not gone as hoped." He paused, glancing around the room.

Harris's face contorted first into surprise, then to realization, and then to rage. His face was turning a shade of red.

"Through a series of events, I have found out that Mr. Harris has conned his way into the business world, his charges are severe, including kidnapping, murder, treason-" Saito couldn't finish his sentence before Harris lunged at him. He grabbed Saito around the throat, trying to pull him down.

Harris hardly had time to try anything else before Security tore him away. Saito got up from his knees on the floor and stood back up next to the microphone, and took a deep breath. "It is with that confirmation that I dismantle this agreement, and leave the rest to the authorities." Saito picked up the contract and ripped it in half. The crowd burst into applause and cheers. The News hadn't been this exciting in months.

Ariadne stared at the TV, her mouth hanging open. She watched as security escorted Harris off stage, who was swearing up a storm, throwing cusses at Saito. She heard Arthur chuckle next to her, "Well, I'm glad that worked out." Ariadne nodded slowly.

"I hope I never have to see him again." She said, shaking her head and leaning against Arthur.

He slung his arm around her, hugging her to him. "You won't. I'll make sure of that." He smiled down at her and stole another kiss.

Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it took forever to post this for you.

Ttfn, ta ta for now! :)


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